QUETTA, Jan 8: A couple and three children suffocated in Quetta and Kuchlak town on Saturday night, sources said.

A couple was sleeping in their Hazara Town house. The gas heater in the room extinguished some time in the night because of gas supply suspension.

The supply was restored in the early hours of Sunday – only to fill the room with gas, suffocating Salman and his wife Gul Khanam, the sources said.

In Kuchlak town, children of one Rehmatullah Khilji in Killi Khano died in almost similar circumstances.

They were identified as Hikmatullah, 10; Roiel-Qaida, 8; and Shakira Bibi, 13.

Police said these incidents took place partly because the Sui Southern Gas Company carried out loadshedding without prior notice to the effect being disseminated through the media.

Residents of Quetta and eight other districts of Balochistan connected with the Sui Southern Gas Company network have been facing low gas pressure since the winter started in November.

People in the Sariab area took out a procession against the unannounced loadshedding and low gas pressure in parts of Quetta and adjoining areas.