Two companies being sued by the family of a 34-year-old international student who died in a duplex fire in Cape Breton in 2022 are denying any and all liability — and are shifting the blame to two of the victim's roommates.

Rajesh Gollapudi was living in the apartment with seven other students at the time of his death on Dec. 17, 2022. He had been a Cape Breton University student. His father filed a lawsuit alleging his son was unable to escape the fire due to a lack of fire safety measures.

The …