Amaravati: Five members of a family allegedly died by suicide at a rest house in the temple town of Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh, police said on Tuesday.

Two men and three women were found hanging in a room in Vaddera Sataram, one of the rest houses for devotees visiting Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy temple.

According to police, two men were found hanging to a fan in the room while three women were found hanging in the washroom.

They were believed to have taken the extreme step three days ago, but it came to light on Tuesday when the staff alerted the police after a foul smell emanated from the locked room.

Police broke open the door to find all five dead.

Atmakur DSP Ramanjaneyulu, who visited the scene, said the family hailed from Battalapalli in Sri Sathya Sai district.

Financial problems believed to have driven the family to suicide.

One Sudhakar, his three sisters and a nephew had come to Srisailam last month. They were staying in the room for nearly a month.

The deceased have been identified as Pallapu Sudhakar (50), Gogula Adilakshmi (36), Malleshwari (45), Sridevi (33) and Manikantha (15). Manikantha was the son of Malleshwari.

The DSP said the family had come by an auto-rickshaw on July 28. They had checked into room number 11 and were paying daily rent of Rs 29. When the staff asked them to vacate the room, they requested more time, saying they were not keeping good health and wanted to make a pledge at the temple.

Preliminary investigation by the police revealed that the family was facing financial difficulties. Two of the women were divorcees. Sudhakar had not married and was taking care of his sisters.

Police shifted the bodies to a government hospital in Srisailam for post-mortem examination.

Police registered a case and took up further investigation. DSP Anjaneyulu said they were investigating the case from all angles.