Grief-struck Uri’s Gingal village bids teary goodbye to asphyxiation victims

Baramulla, Jan 6: The news of the death of five members of a family, caused by suffocation due to a gas heater in Srinagar’s Pandrethan on Sunday night has caused gloom and doom in Uri’s Gingal village, where the deceased family originally belonged from.

On Monday afternoon, inhabitants of Bhat Mohalla in Gingal village in north Kashmir's Baramulla district were inconsolable, as they bid farewell to the victims including Ajaz Ahmad Bhat, the head of the slain family and his wife along with their three children, one of them a newborn. The family was living in a rented accommodation in Pandrethan, where the tragic incident took place and has sent shockwaves across Kashmir.

“It is devastating,” murmured Farooq Ahmad Awan, a local resident. As inhabitants of five villages saw health workers deboarding lifeless bodies of the deceased family members from the ambulance, Awan added: “The entire family has been wiped out. There is no one left to mourn them except for the deceased man’s four brothers and ailing parents”.

Ajaz Ahmad Bhat, 40, a skilled chef had worked in the hospitality sector for over a decade, carving out a modest livelihood. He along with several of his native youths were trained by an NGO with the help of the Army with hotel management skills soon after the devastating 2005 earthquake.

The deceased Ajaz’s journey took him from small restaurants to reputed hotels in Srinagar. He has recently shifted to Srinagar outskirts accommodation along with his family, where his wife had recently given birth to the couple’s third child.

Relatives of the deceased family recalled that soon after the childbirth, Ajaz’s wife had invited her sister to help with the household chores. They said her sister had stayed with them and had a narrow escape as she had returned home just two days prior to the tragedy.

Muhammad Fazal, a relative, struggling to accept the loss said, “They were a happy family. His wife was caring, and Ajaz was hardworking. This tragedy has shaken us all.”

Ajaz’s elderly father, who recently suffered from a major illness, now faces the heartbreaking reality of losing his son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren. The ailing parents of the deceased family are now devastated and unable to speak.

Under the relentless downpour, residents of five villages gathered to pay their respect. Despite the heavy rain, the Bhat family’s home became the epicenter of mourning as neighbour's, friends, and relatives struggled to come to terms with the loss. Ajaz Ahmad Bhat and his family were laid to rest at a local graveyard, at a short distance from their home.