Elderly man dies after Slaithwaite house fire

An elderly man has died after a house fire in a West Yorkshire village.

Emergency services were called to a property on Manchester Road in Slaithwaite just after 06:30 GMT on Friday.

A man in his 70s was found unresponsive and suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation in an upstairs room. He was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

A spokesperson added the cause of the blaze was not thought to be suspicious.

Station manager Michael Rhodes, from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Crews broke down the door and extinguished a fire in a downstairs room, before searching upstairs and finding a lone elderly gentleman."

Firefighters rescued the "badly injured" victim from the house and began giving him CPR, he added.

The man died a short time later in hospital, West Yorkshire Police said.

The man's neighbour, Usman Yousaf, said: "My children woke me up saying they could smell smoke and I noticed smoke coming from my cellar.

"A neighbour called the fire brigade and they spent about 20 minutes trying to resuscitate him and then the ambulance crew arrived and spent quite a long time trying to resuscitate him.

"It's a bit of a shock to be honest and sad because he's a lovely old man."

Mr Rhodes said fire crews from Slaithwaite and Huddersfield had been called to the blaze.

A fire service spokesperson said the cause of the blaze was not known and an investigation had begun.

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