KARACHI, March 21: An elderly man and his wife died after their apartment near cantonment railway station caught fire in the wee hours on Sunday. Police said that Rafiur Rehman, 70, and his wife, Akhtar Rafi, 60, had recently shifted to a flat in Salala Apartments near Cantt Station.

On Sunday morning, the police and fire brigade were informed that flames were leaping from an apartment. Four fire tenders rushed to the area to extinguish the fire. The police and fire fighters pulled out the couple from the apartment and shifted them to Civil Hospital, where the doctors pronounced them dead.

The couple was believed to have died by asphyxia and not of burns, as they did not suffer serious burn injuries. Rafi, a retired official of the national carrier, had three sons, who lived in the United States.

Rafi's brother-in-law Abdul Hameed received the corpses of the couple. Police did not find any foul play in the incident and thought that the fire broke out due to short circuit and it was an accident.