A middle-aged woman and her son died in a blaze that broke out at a multi-storey building in Cooch Behar town on Tuesday.

The deceased have been identified as Supriya Sarkar, 51, and her son Sujoy, 32.

Sources said they own a flat in the third floor of a building in New Kadamtala area under ward 11 of the town. A few days back, they had come to the flat from Patna, where they usually stay.

On Tuesday morning, some residents spotted smoke coming out of the flat and informed the police and the fire services. Two fire tenders from Cooch Behar fire station reached the spot and doused the blaze.

A team from Kotwali police station also went to the site.

After the fire was extinguished, firemen and police entered the flat to find the bodies of the mother and the son.

“The son works in Patna and both he and his mother stayed there most of the time. Around three-four days back, they had come to the flat which otherwise used to be under lock and key,” said a local resident.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Residents also pointed out that the firemen had to break a lock to enter the flat. “They were inside the flat and yet it was locked outside. The police should find out why,” one said.

On February 12, another fire had broken out in another multi-storey building in Bhawaniganj Bazar, the largest market of the town. However, no casualty or injury was reported in that incident.