A newlywed couple from Karachi died of asphyxiation in a Neelum Valley guesthouse on Friday during a cold night.
Syed Mohammad Taha Ali, 25, and his wife, Dua Zehra Zahid, 22, both of Malir, Karachi, booked into a rest home in Kel Seri, a village in Neelum Valley.
According to reports, after leaving their luggage in the hotel, they went sightseeing in Kel’s upper parts, returning at 10:30pm.
As the temperature dropped below 10 degrees Celsius, the couple sealed even the smallest gaps in their room and turned on a gas heater to stay warm.
The rest house personnel instructed them to keep the cylinder outside after half an hour, in accordance with the administration and tourism department’s safety rules given following prior cases of asphyxiation.
The couple agreed, but did not follow the directions.
On Saturday morning, at 10am, the staff personnel knocked on each room to see if visitors needed anything. While others answered, the couple’s room remained silent.
Alarmed, the staff contacted the district disaster management authority, whose personnel broke the door open after multiple knocks went unanswered. Inside, they discovered both the husband and wife dead.
The bodies were taken to Muzaffarabad in the evening and handed over to their relatives.
