Gas leak from homemade heater kills family in Armenia

Associated Press Worldstream
December 16, 2004 Thursday 10:15 AM Eastern Time

YEREVAN, Armenia — A natural-gas leak from a homemade heater killed
a family of five in Armenia, officials said Thursday.

The accident Wednesday in the city of Echmiadzin killed a married
couple and their three small children, the Prosecutor General’s
Office in the former Soviet republic said. It said the heater was
set up without regard for safety standards.

The family was among a growing number of victims of accidents resulting
from the improper use of homemade heaters and from insufficient
oversight by officials charged with enforcing safety standards.

Many people in the poor ex-Soviet republic use homemade gas heaters,
sometimes tapping illegally into gas lines, because their homes lack
heating due to the prohibitive expense.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress