Mother-Son Suffocate To Death In Delhi

After the Coal fire was lit to fight cold…

A two-year-old child and his mother took their last breath due to suffocation, and three other family members were hospitalized due to a coal fire lit in their Delhi home to protect them from the chill.

The painful incident took place late on Saturday night at the family's rented home in south Delhi's Maidan Garhi, senior police officer Ankit Chauhan has said.

Dinesh, his wife Anjali aged 23 years ago, sons Devansh 6 years old and Shambhu 2 years old and daughter Devasi aged 4 were sleeping in the room. Dinesh worked as a gardener at a farmhouse in Asola.

Like lakhs of households in the urban slums in Delhi, he had opted for a cheaper alternative to a room heater - a coal fire - to protect his family from the cruel January winters. The doors and windows were shut to guard them against the cold breeze. This proved to be deadly.

Late at night, hours after they had drifted to sleep, the couple and their children woke up, struggling to breathe.

They were rushed to Safdarjung Hospital, where doctors said Anjali and her youngest were dead. Dinesh and his two other children are under treatment.

Burning of coal in a closed room without ventilation leads to the production of carbon monoxide.

If it is Inhaled in large quantities, carbon monoxide can lead to unconsciousness, tissue damage, and even death.