Couple light fireplace to beat cold, dies of suffocation after leaving it burning

The couple lit a fireplace due to the cold, took it inside their room and fell asleep with the door closed, due to which they died of suffocation. However, the locals did not inform the police and their bodies were cremated.

In Short

• Uttarakhand couple slept with a burning fireplace inside their closed room
• Son discovered them unresponsive next morning, locals broke open door
• Their bodies were cremated without informing police

A couple died from suffocation after they went to sleep with the fireplace burning in a village here, officials said on Friday.

The incident occurred on Thursday night in the Dwari-Thapla village of the Bhilangana area. The couple, Madan Mohan Semwal (52) and his wife, Yashoda Devi (48) had come to the village to attend a wedding ceremony, Dwari-Thapla village administrator Rinki Devi said.

Around 11 pm, they lit a fireplace due to the cold, took it inside their room and fell asleep with the door closed. On Friday morning, their son went to wake them up but no one opened the door, Devi said.

After not getting any response for a while, the locals broke the door open and the couple was found dead on the bed, Devi added. She said that they died due to carbon monoxide gas produced by the smoke of the fireplace.

However, the locals did not inform the police. After talking the couple's son and daughter, they cremated the bodies at a Ghat.

Semwal was a clerk at the Government Inter College, Saraswatisain, the village administrator added.