A fire broke out at a Pune-based wholesale sari store in which five labourers who were present there at the time, died in their sleep. The five labourers were stuck in the godown and died due to suffocation and burns in the wee hours on Thursday morning.

The incident took place at RAJYOG Saree Centre, situated on Saswad road in the Devachi Urali area.

According to a fire bridge officer, "The five labourers were present in the store in order to guard it against possible theft. According to reports, the fire broke out due to short circuit that occurred around 4.30 am. While the five labourers were in deep sleep, one of them managed to notice something like a thick foam. This is when he and his colleagues tried to make a run for it, but only to realise that they were locked. They alerted the shop manager at around 4.30 am based on which the cops were alerted.