Srinagar: Five members of a family died Sunday night due to suffocation in their rented accommodation in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
Officials said that the deceased included parents and their two minor children and an infant born just 28 days ago. The father, identified as Ajaz Ahmad Bhat, a chef at a private hotel, Lalit Grand Palace, originally hailed from Uri in Baramullah district but had been living in a rented accommodation here for the past two months.
Mukhtar Ahmad, the house owner, revealed that he was alerted by Bhat's mother who had been unable to contact her son. "She called me, saying Ajaz was not responding to her calls since 4 PM. I sent another tenant to check on them," Mukhtar said.
"When the tenant knocked and received no response, we forced the door open and found Ajaz, his wife, and their three children dead," Mukhtar added. Officials said that the suspected suffocation was caused by a heating gadget (blower). The bodies were shifted to the government medical college Srinagar and hospital for post-mortem, adding the inquest proceedings have been taken up.
The use of heating devices during the valley's coldest nights has raised safety concerns. Unchecked use of heating gadgets can increase carbon monoxide levels and deplete oxygen in rooms, leading to suffocation, officials warned.
This is the second data incident in the valley in recent days. Earlier, two minors lost their lives when their tin-shed residence caught fire in Tangmarg in Baramulla.
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