Srinagar on Saturday woke up to a thick carpet of snow and the tragic news of five members of a family being suffocated to death after using a gas heater through the night.

Pictures of the five — who include Faizan, 8, and Furkan, 5 — lying on their mattress, as though asleep, circulated on social media. A man died in Bandipore, falling off the roof of his home while trying to clear the snow.

The season’s heaviest snowfall disrupted life and cut the Valley off from the rest of the country, blocking highways, cancelling flights and snapping power in many areas.

The snowfall began late Friday afternoon and continued overnight. Srinagar city received around a foot of snow, while Gulmarg and Pahalgam received more than two feet and one-and-a-half feet, respectively. A Met official said more snow was expected on Saturday night.

The overnight temperature in the city improved to minus 1.3 degrees Celsius after hovering around minus five during the past fortnight.

While the snow brought respite from the freezing cold, the five deaths in the city dampened spirits.

Apart from the children, the dead include their parents Khursid Ahmad and Gulshan Jan, both 45, and grandmother Reshma Jan, 65. Police have started a probe.

The family had arrived from the border Karnah area last week for Reshma’s treatment and had rented a room in the Bemina locality. An officer said that Khursheed was a former soldier.

Bemina resident Farooq Ahmad said he heard shouts in the morning. “I rushed out and saw people enquiring about the family, saying they were not opening their door.”

The police broke the door. “The gas cylinder was still leaking,” Ahmad said.