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Family of five leaves heater on to stay warm in Kashmir home, found dead
Most places in Kashmir, including plains of the valley, received moderate to heavy snowfall overnight, officials of the meteorological department said
Five members of a family allegedly died of suffocation in Srinagar after using a heater in their closed room as the Kashmir Valley saw heavy snowfall overnight and remained cut off from the rest of India on Saturday with the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained closed and flight operations suspended.
The key highway was closed since Friday afternoon due to heavy snowfall at the Jawahar tunnel. The Mughal Road, the Srinagar-Leh Highway and mountain passes leading to Gurez and Tangdhar were also closed due to the same reason.
Most places in Kashmir, including plains of the valley, received moderate to heavy snowfall overnight, officials of the meteorological department said.
The snowfall, which began in the late afternoon on Friday, continued in most parts of the valley this morning, they said, adding it is one of the heaviest snowfalls in the recent years in the plains of Kashmir, reported PTI news agency.
While the tourist resorts of Gulmarg and Pahalgam received more than two feet and one and a half feet of snow respectively, Srinagar recorded 25 cms.
An India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said more snow is expected during the next 24 hours till Sunday morning after which the weather would improve, according to IANS.
Due to poor visibility and runway clearance problems, no flight landed or took off from Srinagar international airport on Saturday morning.
While the authorities moved out early to clear roads in Srinagar city, traffic between the city and other districts remained suspended.
Electric supply in both urban and rural areas was disrupted because of the snowfall and most parts of the Valley did not have electricity in the morning, IANS said.
Srinagar recorded a minimum of minus 1.3 degree Celsius, Pahalgam minus 2.8 and Gulmarg minus 7.3 as the minimum temperatures on Friday. Leh town recorded minus 8 degree and Kargil minus 15.6.
Five family members - two women, one man and two children - were found dead in their rented accommodation in Bemina area, police said.
“The apparent cause of death appears to be asphyxiation but this will only be ascertained after medical examination,” a police officer said, adding that the family was from Kupwara, as per IANS.
The Jammu region saw isolated spells of heavy rain and snow while the met department forecast widespread rain in Jammu.
Besides Rajouri and Poonch, the Vaishno Devi hills received snowfall and helicopter and cable car services at the hilltop shrine in Reasi district were stopped temporarily, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board CEO Simrandeep Singh said.
Jammu city had 8.6, Katra 6.4, Batote minus 1.3, Bannihal 0.3 and Bhaderwah minus 0.2 as the night’s lowest temperatures.
