UP: Family of four sleeps with gas heater on, dies due to suffocation

Four members of a family died in their sleep here apparently due to suffocation after they left a gas heater on inside their room overnight, police said on Sunday.

The matter came to light after a milkman knocked on the door of the family’s house in Jhajjar locality on Sunday morning but no one answered, they said.

Asif (35), who worked as a clerk in a local madrassa, his wife Shagufta (32) and their children Zaid (3) and Mayra (2) went to sleep on Saturday night with a gas heater in their room. They were suffocated due to the gas heater and were found dead on Sunday morning, said Circle Officer (CO) Bisva Abhishek Pratap.

Local residents informed the police after a milkman knocked on the door of the family house in the morning but no one answered, he said.

Police personnel reached the spot and broke open the door and found all the family members lying unconscious on a bed. They were rushed to the Bisva community health centre, where doctors declared them dead, Pratap said.