Use of chemicals to kill rats by a pest control services firm in an apartment here has turned lethal for a family of four. Two children, aged six and one, died and their parents are battling for their lives as they are suspected to have inhaled rodenticide, police said on Friday.

Two persons who had provided the service at the apartment in Kundrathur have been detained, they said.

Tragedy struck the family in the form of rat poison on November 13. A pest control representative sprinkled the chemical powder in the apartment as their services were sought to tackle the menace of rats.

Unmindful of the rodenticide dispersed in the room, Giridharan, a banker residing with his family in the apartment, switched on the air-conditioner before falling asleep.

Early on Thursday morning, he experienced breathing difficulty and sought help from his friend, the police said.

The family was immediately rushed to a hospital. While his daughter and son succumbed at a hospital in Kundrathur on Thursday, Giridharan and his wife Pavithra, who also inhaled the poison, were undergoing treatment at a private hospital, they said.

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