Kanpur | A businessman, his wife and their domestic help died allegedly of suffocation inside their house here following a fire that broke out from a 'diya' early Thursday, police said.

The fire broke out around 3 am, in the wooden temple unit of the house, located in Pandu Nagar under Kakadev police station limits, they said.

A senior officer said the family performed Diwali rituals late in the night after which the lamp remained lit in the temple unit.

"At the time of the incident, businessman Sanjay Shyam Dasani, his wife (Kanika Dasani) and maid (Chhabi Chauhan) were asleep in the house. They could not escape," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Kanpur) Dinesh Tripathi said.

"When local officials, including fire brigade, were alerted, they reached the spot and the trio was rushed to the Regency Hospital where they were declared dead by doctors" Tripathi said.

The blaze in the house was extinguished by the fire brigade, he said.

The DCP said further legal proceedings were being carried out in the case.