GEORGE TOWN: The deaths of a prominent lawyer and his clerk have been attributed to asphyxia, police confirmed.
George Town deputy OCPD Supt Lee Swee Sake said post-mortem examinations revealed that Datuk San Markan Ganapathi and his clerk, Chandra Binwani Jiwatram, died of asphyxia secondary to smoke inhalation.
“The post-mortem found that both victims died due to asphyxia,” he said in a statement.
In the incident on Monday (April 13) afternoon, the two were trapped inside a legal firm along Lebuh King.
San Markan was found seated on a chair near a window at 1.05pm, while Chandra was later discovered at 3.32pm near a wall beneath a pile of files.
Firefighters from the Lebuh Pantai station, assisted by personnel from the Jalan Perak station, arrived at the scene at 12.25pm.
The fire was brought under control at about 2pm.
