Family killed by natural gas leak in Armenian village – third such incident this month

Associated Press Worldstream
December 22, 2004 Wednesday 12:08 PM Eastern Time

YEREVAN, Armenia — A man, his wife and 7-year-old child were
asphyxiated by a natural gas leak in a rural Armenian village,
emergency officials said Wednesday – the third such incident of gas
poisoning in Armenia this month.

Officials were investigating the incident, which took place in the
southern town of Bryankot Syunikskoi, but said preliminary information
showed that a poorly installed homemade gas heater and an illegal
connection to municipal gas pipes were to blame.

The return of widespread use of natural gas in Armenia has caused
a number of safety problems in recent years, officials say. The
country had almost no natural gas for about 11 years because of
supply problems.

Last week, a family of five died in the town of Echmiadzin. Two days
later, a gas leak killed two people in the town of Gumri.