LALAMUSA: Four siblings and their cousin lost their lives due to suffocation caused by smoke from burning coals in Gujrat on Saturday night.
Reportedly, the tragedy occurred around 8:45pm when Laiba Shafiq (13), Hashim Shafiq (11), Hadi Shafiq (10), Hanan Shafiq (6), and their cousin Salim Fayyaz (6) were asleep in a room. In an effort to protect the children from the winter cold, the family had placed a coal-burning brazier (Angithi) inside the room. As the coals burned through the night, the enclosed space gradually filled with carbon monoxide.
The increasing levels of poisonous gas displaced the oxygen in the room, causing suffocation. The children’s mother, Tayyaba, wife of Shafiq, had left the house to visit a hospital for a medical check-up at the time of the incident. Upon her return, she discovered the unconscious children and raised an alarm, prompting neighbours to rush the victims to a nearby hospital.
Tragically, doctors confirmed that all five children had passed away before reaching the hospital. Gujrat Deputy Commissioner Safdar Hussain, SP Riaz Naz and Assistant Commissioner Bilal Zubair, arrived at the hospital shortly after receiving news of the incident. While expressing their condolences to the grief-stricken family, they directed Rescue 1122 personnel to transport the bodies to the family’s native village, Lambur, for burial. Medical officials suggested that the children died from hypoxia (oxygen deprivation) induced by carbon monoxide poisoning. Authorities have urged citizens to exercise extreme caution when using coal-based heating methods.
