Severe cold: Three die of suffocation by gas heater

QUETTA: Three members of one family lost their lives due to gas suffocation in the Musa Colony area of Saryab late Saturday night.

According to the police, Muhammad Javed, his wife Shaista Bibi and their child Bibi Rashida went to sleep without switching off the gas heater in the room due to the severe cold weather. In the middle of the night, they suffocated to death as the heater consumed all the oxygen in the room. Police and Edhi rescue workers rushed to the house and moved the deceased to Civil Hospital Quetta.

Police handed over dead bodies to heirs after completing legal formalities. Quetta and other northern parts of Balochistan are facing extreme cold weather since the last few days. Many sleep without turning off their gas heaters which results in tragic incidents. Over nine people have lost their lives owing to suffocation caused by gas heaters in the current year.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2012.