Mystery as dead man in burnt out flat found in lotus position

By Clementine Cuneo From: The Daily Telegraph
July 12, 2010 12:00AM

A MAN found dead in a burnt-out unit was discovered sitting cross-legged in yoga's lotus position.

Police said yesterday they could not explain why the man was positioned so unusually in the corner of the main bedroom of his Sydney unit.

However, officers confirmed they were looking at the possibility the man had "zoned out" while meditating when the fire broke out yesterday.

Initial inquiries indicate the man, believed to be aged in his 30s, died from toxic smoke inhalation when his unit - one of 12 in the block - caught alight.

No one else was home at the time.

Police said that the fire was not suspicious and was possibly caused by a cigarette smouldering on the bed's mattress, which had an electric blanket fitted to it.

"We can't yet establish why the deceased man was sitting in that position . . . it may be the case he was meditating and had zoned out, or it may be unrelated," police said.

Neighbours told of hearing "strange noises" coming from the man's Campsie unit in the early hours of yesterday.

"It was like, sort of, a banging around noise," a neighbour who gave her name as Diah said.

Police said they believed the fire started in the early hours but was not discovered until just before 9am when other residents saw smoke.

"We think that may be what the noise was earlier on in the morning . . . when the fire started," police said.

Residents in the block said the man killed in the fire was quiet and kept to himself. "We would see him collecting his mail or walking to the bus up the street . . . he was a quiet man," a resident said.

Police said the man had a flatmate, or a male friend who sometimes lived at the unit, but he was away when the fire started.

The unit sustained extensive smoke damage but the other 11 units in the block were not affected.

Police investigators spent most of yesterday at the scene and a report was being prepared for the Coroner.

From: http://www.news.com.au/national/dead-man-in-burnt-out-flat-found-in-lotus-position/story-e6frfkvr-1225890496417