Cold wave claims 3 in J-K

The cold wave sweeping Kashmir Valley has claimed lives of three non-Kashmiri labourers,two of whom died due to asphyxiation at an under construction house at Srinagar Airport road today.

Bodies of two masons Mohammad Anwar and Mohammad Aalam,both residents of Bihar,were recovered from the under construction house of Tariq Ahmad Sheikh at Gulberg colony Hyderpora on the outskirts of the city this morning,officials said.

According to preliminary investigations,the two labourers died of asphyxiation as they forgot to put off the gas heater before going to sleep.

Another resident of Bihar,Suresh Kumar,who was working as a labourer at a cement factory,was found dead on the premises of the unit at Lasjan on the outskirts of Srinagar,they said.

Kumar had apparently died of cold,they said,adding further investigations are on.

Jammu and Kashmir for the past fortnight is in the grip of cold conditions. Srinagar recorded it coldest night of the season tomorrow with mercury dipping to minus 5.6 degrees Celsius,with thin layer of ice forming on waterbodies here Leh in Ladakh was the coldest place in the state with a low of minus 17.2 deg C,followed by Kargil which recorded a minimum of minus 11 deg C.