DHANBAD: Three members of a family, including a six-year-old-girl, died of asphyxiation after allegedly inhaling toxic gases emanating from a major fire that broke out in some shops of a market in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred at Kendua Bazar, around 170 km away from the state capital Ranchi, at 9.30 pm on Monday, he said.

The fire broke out at a cosmetic shop in a building, which spread out to the upper floor where shop owner Subhash Gupta was living with the family.

The persons, who were killed in the incident, were identified as Subhash's mother Uma Devi (70), sister Priyanka Gupta (37) and daughter Soumiya Gupta alias Mouli (6).

Deputy Superintendent of Police (law and order) Arvind Kumar Binha, who was monitoring the rescue operation, said that the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. An investigation is on to find out the reason.

The police, however, suspected that the fire could be due to a short circuit or burning of earthen lamps for the Diwali celebration.

The fire also affected six other adjacent shops, and goods worth several lakhs were gutted, the police added.