Poisonous Gas: Three more die of asphyxia in Quetta

QUETTA: Gas supply to Balochistan remained suspended for the second consecutive day and low gas pressure claimed the lives of three more people in Quetta. An 18-inch high pressure gas pipeline in Sui was blown up late Sunday night, disrupting gas supply to the province. “The technicians are saying that it will take two days to completely restore the supply,” Haroon Rashid, General Manager Sui Southern Gas Ccompany said. According to Saryab Police, Mumtaz Ali, Kamal Khan and Bilawal in Killi Baro on Sariab Road left the heater switched on before going to bed. The fluctuations in gas pressure eventually led to poisonous gas filling the room. As a result, they died of asphyxia. The bodies were taken to the civil hospital for an autopsy and were later handed over to their families for burial. As many as 20 people have died of suffocation in and around Quetta this winter.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th, 2012.