One killed in fire at seven-storey residential building in Vadodara  

A 43-year-old man was charred to death after a fire broke out in a seven-storey residential building in Gujarat’s Vadodara city on Saturday morning, police said.

The blaze erupted around 9.30 am in a flat on the fifth floor of the Vinayak Society building in the Sayajipura locality, likely due to a short circuit, inspector MR Sangada of Bapod police station said.

He said that the charred body of the victim, Kiran Rana, was recovered from the room where the fire originated.

The body was found on a bed, suggesting that the victim might have died in his sleep, Sangada said.

He said the deceased worked at a private firm and was alone in the flat when the blaze broke out, as his wife had left for work.

Prima facie, it appears that a short circuit might have caused the fire, the official said, adding that a forensic team was working to ascertain the exact cause of the fire.

The Bapod police have registered a case of accidental death, and a probe is underway.

People in the neighbourhood alerted the fire department and police, and a team from the fire brigade reached the spot and brought the blaze under control, preventing it from spreading any further, an official said.