Seven people died of suffocation after a massive fire broke out inside a tailoring shop in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city. The incident occurred early Wednesday morning, a senior police officer told PTI.

Officials said that the fire broke out at around 4 am in the shop located at Dana Bazar in Cantonment area. The tailoring shop and other commercial establishments were located on the ground floor of a building while people were residing on the upper floor

Police Commissioner Manoj Lohiya told PTI, “The shop suddenly caught fire at around 4 am. The police came to know about the incident at 4.15 am. Following the fire, smoke entered the first floor where a family was residing above the shop. Seven casualties have occurred due to suffocation.”

The exact cause of the fire is not known yet, but an inquiry has been launched. The police confirmed that the deceased included three women, two men and two children.

The deceased have been identified as Asim Shaikh (3), Pari Shaikh (2), Wasim Shaikh (30), Tanveer Shaikh (23), Hamida Begum (50), Shaikh Sohail (35) and Reshma Shaikh (22), another official said.

(With inputs from PTI)