ABBOTTABAD/MANSEHRA: Eight persons suffocated in separate incidents on Tuesday night, the police said.

Five members a family, including three children, suffocated as they failed to turn off a gas heater before going to sleep in Phul Gulab area of Abbottabad.

The police named the victims Mohammad Javed, his wife Yasmin Bibi, and three daughters, Maryam, 12, Murwa, 10, and two-year-old Aqsa.

Other members of the family informed the Mirpur police when they failed to wake the victims up in the morning despite repeated knocks at the door to their room.

The police reached the spot and broke open the door. They recovered five bodies from the room and shifted them to the Ayub Teaching Hospital for autopsy.

After fulfillment of legal formalities, the bodies were handed over to relatives.

Meanwhile, three members of a family died of suffocation in Potha area of Mansehra in the wee hours on Tuesday.

Mohammad Owais, his wife and a minor son were asleep in a room with a gas heater burning.

However, a low gas pressure later in the night caused the heater to turn off, filling the room with gas and leaving the inmates unconscious.

The family members rushed them to King Abdullah Teaching Hospital, where doctors pronounced them dead.

It is to mention here that seven people, including six members of a family, also died of suffocation in two such incidents during the last week in the district.

The police have also issued a warning asking the people to ensure that they turn off the gas heaters before going to bed.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2021