North Rhine-Westphalia: autopsy after fire: residents died of smoke inhalation

Duisburg (dpa / lnw) - After an apartment fire in Duisburg, a forensic doctor determined the cause of death of the 60-year-old resident.

North Rhine-Westphalia: autopsy after fire: residents died of smoke inhalation

Duisburg (dpa / lnw) - After an apartment fire in Duisburg, a forensic doctor determined the cause of death of the 60-year-old resident. The man died of smoke inhalation, police and prosecutors said on Monday. The investigators also examined the apartment together with an expert. Arson or a technical defect could now be ruled out as the cause of the fire, it said. Since the dead man is said to have been a heavy smoker, investigators suspect smoldering cigarettes as the cause of the fire.

The 60-year-old died in the fire on Friday morning. A 56-year-old, a 29-year-old and their one-and-a-half-year-old daughter from the apartment building came to the hospital with suspected smoke inhalation.