Family dies of carbon monoxide poisoning in Armenia, latest in rash of
poisoning incidents

.c The Associated Press

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – A 47-year-old man, his wife and his son died
of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a homemade stove Thursday,
emergency officials said, the latest in a rash of deaths in Armenia
caused by gas leaks and faulty heating stoves.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said the man was burning wood and
animal dung in a homemade stove that was poorly ventilated. Officials
found the family dead in their home in the village of Yeranos Thursday
morning.

The incident brings the number of such deaths in Armenia in the past
year to 25, 16 of which occurred in December alone, according to
emergency officials. The prosecutor general’s office, however, said
there had been 24 deaths in 2004 by natural gas poisoning alone.

Many people in the ex-Soviet republic use makeshift stoves and
homemade gas heaters, sometimes tapping illegally into gas lines,
because their homes lack heaters, which are expensive.

Rescuers have saved eight people from poisoning inicidents through the
country already this year, the ministry said, and doctors had
resuscitate two who had been overcome by gas.

01/20/05 09:59 EST

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress