Hazaribagh, April 28: A Giridih father, who managed to save his wife and older son from a sudden fire that engulfed their house late last night, died of asphyxiation while attempting to rescue his youngest child, an eight-year-old boy, who also succumbed to burns right after midnight on Thursday.

The fire at a prominent building on Chandori Road, near Tower Chowk in the heart of Giridih, and the heart-rending tragedy that followed, have cast pall of gloom over Giridih.

Around 11.30pm on Wednesday, bystanders saw smoke and fire raging in the first two floors of building - a sari store and godown - owned by prominent businessman Sandeep Gupta (42), who stayed with his wife Poonam (38) and two sons, Divyansh (11) and Tanmay (8), Mount Carmel School boys of Class VI and II, respectively, on the top floor.

As bystanders shouted to alert Sandeep that his ground-floor sari store and first-floor godown were ablaze, the man hurried back to his second floor residence to bring out his wife and children. First, he brought out Poonam and Divyansh to safety. Then, he rushed back to bring out Tanmay. But this proved tough as every second the raging fire was growing stronger.

Sandeep and Tanmay found themselves trapped as the stairs were swilling with smoke. They rushed to the first-floor godown but could not emerge out alive.

The father died of suffocation. The child's charred body was later brought out by fire-fighters, who reached around midnight and took over an hour to tame the blaze.

Town DSP Ashish Kujur said circumstantial evidence confirmed while coming down with Tanmay, Sandeep had entered the godown to avoid smoke, but he died of suffocation and his son of burns. Prima facie, short-circuit seems to have started the fire, he said.

Giridih MLA of BJP Nirbhay Shahbadi and municipal board chairman Dinesh Yadav reached the spot after getting news about the fire.

The Gupta family is well-known in Giridih. The deceased Gupta's father, Ambika Gupta, is a prominent personality in the town. He had gone to visit his elder son and Sandeep older brother Sanjay Gupta in Delhi. Sandeep's younger brother Sachin, who was involved with him in the business, stays separately at Barganda locality.

Though Poonam and Divyansh were reported to be completely safe, they were speechless with shock.

The bodies of Sandeep and Tanmay have been sent for post-mortem to Giridih Sadar Hospital.