Snowfall brought normal life to a standstill in Kashmir on Saturday, with both surface and air traffic remaining suspended. Seven people have died in separate incidents in the past 24 hours.
Five persons of a family, including two minor boys, were found dead inside their rented accommodation in Srinagar’s Bemina.
The police said preliminary reports suggested they died of asphyxiation caused by a gas heater. “The bodies could not be airlifted to their native village of Tanghdar in Kupwara, which is cut off due to snowfall. The bodies will be airlifted on Sunday morning,” said Syed Abid Rasheed, Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar.
Passengers stranded
A 75-year-old woman died at Sadhna Top on the Kupwara-Tanghdar Road in north Kashmir. She was stuck, along with over five dozen commuters, on the snow-locked highway. “The stranded passengers will be rescued on Sunday,” said Khalid Jahangir, Deputy Commissioner, Kupwara.
A man from Bandipora died after he accidentally slipped off the rooftop while clearing snow.
The snow also shut the Srinagar-Jammu NH and affected inbound flights at the Srinagar airport. “Only five out of the 24 scheduled flights were able to operate in the afternoon,” said an official.