Five labourers were killed in a fierce fire that broke out at a clothing warehouse at Urali Devachi in Pune in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on early Thursday.

They were asleep inside the cloth godown when the fire broke out at around 4:30 am inside the store. The labourers died due to suffocation as well as minor burns, said a local police official.

Five fire tenders were deployed and the fire is under control. Cooling operations are on, Xinhua reported citing the official.

People who sustained injuries are undergoing treatment at a hospital. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, the official said.

Pune is the second largest city in India's western state of Maharashtra after Mumbai and the ninth most populous city in the country.

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