As many as six people, including four members of a family, allegedly died due to suffocation in two separate incidents in Delhi on Sunday. The toxic fumes from the angithi (coal brazier) is said to be the reason behind suffocation.
In the incident involving the family of four in outer north Delhi’s Kheda area, the deceased are identified as Rakesh (40) — water tanker driver — his wife Lalita (38), and their two sons Piyush (8) and Sunny (7).
Officials said that they received a PCR call at the Alipur police station about a person found lying unconscious. Soon after, a team was rushed to the spot.
The deceased’ house was locked from the inside. “Our teams first broke the glass window and managed to open the door. Later, the team found four people inside the room in an unconscious state. They were rushed to the hospital, where doctors declared them dead,” an officer was quoted as saying by PTI.
Additional DCP (Outer North) B Bharat Reddy said that a forensic team has been called and samples of the angithi have been collected. “It is suspected that they died due to suffocation,” Reddy said.
Further investigation into the matter has begun under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) Section 174.
In another incident, two Nepalese men were found dead in their room after they allegedly inhaled toxic gases from a coal brazier in west Delhi’s Inderpuri.
The deceased have been identified as, 57-year-old Ram Bahadur — a driver by profession — and 22-year-old Abhishek — who worked as a domestic help.
Police said that a team was sent to the spot after they received a call about the two men not opening their door. Both of the deceased were found in their third-floor room, which was locked from the inside.
“The door was forced to open and two people were found unconscious. They were rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared them dead,” the officer noted.
Police team found an angithi with burnt residue in the room. “There was one window that was found to be closed. No injuries were found on the bodies,” the official added.
Further investigation into the matter is underway.
Earlier this, five out of seven members of a family died due to asphyxiation in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha district. The incident took place in Allipur Bhud village on Tuesday, police said, two more members of the family were admitted to a hospital.
The cause of death was suspected to be suffocation, which was caused by the angithi, the family used on Monday night to get warmth amid the cold weather conditions, police said.
When the family didn’t open their door till Tuesday evening, the neighbours got suspicious and made forceful entry into the house after breaking the door.
The five family members — Sonam, Waris, Mehak, Zaid and Mahir — were declared brought dead.
The burning of coal in closed spaces can lead to asphyxiation and other breathing issues as it releases toxic gases like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc. These toxins block the flow of oxygen, ultimately leading to suffocation. Prolonged exposure to such harmful elements can even prove to be fatal.
(With PTI inputs)
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