The fire officials confirm the death of three people.
An Indian American couple and their daughter were feared dead in the fire that burned through at least four apartments in Hillsborough, New Jersey on Monday night.
According to reports, the three unidentified bodies could be of Dr. Vinod B. Damodaran, 44, his wife Sreeja, 38, and daughter Aardra, 13, who lived in the same apartment complex.
Dr. Vinod Damodran, who hails from Kerala’s Alappuzha district, had been working in Mumbai and moved to the US about eight years ago with his wife and daughter. Sreeja is a native of Thiruvalla and Aardra is an eight standard student.
Dr. Vinod and family used to call their parents back home every day without fail. They grew anxious when the family stopped calling them from the day of the fire mishap and their efforts to reach them failed. ‘Onmanorama’ reports that the family then contacted the Rutgers University in New Jersey, where Dr. Vinod has been working as a research scientist and learned about his absence.
They last visited Kerala in April.
The fire officials, who confirm the death of three people, have not released the victims’ names and that said they won’t be able to do so until relatives can be notified.
The garden-style apartment complex is on Farm Road. The fire began sometime after 10.00 pm and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
“We look outside and somebody is screaming ‘fire’, and I heard someone scream, ‘help me’, and we thought it was coming from that side and someone was playing around,” WABC quoted tenant Sally Terence. “ But when I saw the cop pulling onto the lawn here I realized he was running that way and then our neighbors come out and said there’s a huge fire, so we ran out with our friends.”
The relatives of Dr. Vinod B. Damodaran sought intervention of the Indian Embassy, Non-Resident Keralites Affairs Department (NORKA), and Malayalee associations in the area to confirm the names of the victims and for more details.