India, May 5 -- KANPUR A couple and their three minor daughters died in a fire that broke out in a five-storey residential-cum-commercial building in the densely populated Chamanganj area of Kanpur late on Sunday night. Huge flames engulfed the entire building that houses shoe manufacturing units from the basement to the second floor, police said on Monday.

Initial investigations pointed towards a possible short circuit or faults in the internal wiring, potentially originating from the floors where the shoe factory was operating, police said. The victims were identified as Mohammad Danish, 45, his wife Nazma Saba, 42, and their daughters Sarah, 15, Simra, 12, and Inaya, 7.

The blaze reportedly began around 10pm in the basement and rapid...