RAWALPINDI: A B.Com student died of suffocation after a fire broke out in a private hostel on 7th Road on Saturday, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Raja Taifoor said.

A resident of Jatli, 23-year-old Anila Rasheed, had returned to the girls’ hostel on Saturday after celebrating Eid with her family. She was alone in her room and was trapped in the fire, which is believed to have started due to a short circuit.

Though emergency services and the police were not able to reach on time, the fire was controlled by locals after seeing flames in the hostel.

DSP Taifoor said the hostel administration had informed the police of the fire and that the woman was pronounced dead when moved to the hospital. He said woman had only sustained minor burn injuries and that she died of suffocation when her room filled with smoke. He added that there were no fire escapes in the hostel.

The police said the victim’s father did not want to register a case, saying his daughter had died in an accident and that he did not want to start legal proceedings.

The body was handed over the family after a postmortem.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2016