Smoking a cigarette proved fatal for a 70-year-old man, who died as the mattress he was sleeping on caught fire after he fell asleep with the burning stub in his house at nearby Kakkanad, police said today.
The mishap happened after the deceased, M K Babu, who was lying down after lunch yesterday, decided to smoke a cigarette. As he was smoking, he fell asleep with the lighted cigarette which apparently fell on the mattress burning it.
The fire spread fast due to a kerosene can near the bed. The inmates of the house and neighbours noticed rushed to the house to find fire and smoke billowing out, police said.
Though he was rushed to hospital, his life could not be saved.
