LOWER DIR: Three women of a family suffocated when the room they were sleeping in got filled with gas leaking from a heater in Ouch Adenzai in the wee hours on Monday, residents and the police said.

The family members broke open the door to their room in the morning when no response came from inmates, and found the three women lying unconscious. The women were shifted to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Chakdara, where they were declared dead. The deceased were identified as 65-year-old mother of forest conservator Asghar Ali Khan, his daughter, 23 and aunt, 56.

The deceased women were also relatives of former tehsil nazim Qamar Zaman, former PTI district president Malik Fakhruuz Zaman and former councillor Iqbal Khan.

Moving scenes were witnessed when three bodies were brought to the graveyard for funeral prayers.

A large number of local residents, officials of the forest department, district administration, police and political activists attended the funeral prayers held in Ouch.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2022