French man dies of carbon monoxide in Armenia, latest in rash of poisoning
incidents

.c The Associated Press

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – A French man died of carbon monoxide poisoning
in his Yerevan apartment, emergency officials said Thursday, the
latest in a rash of deaths in Armenia caused by gas leaks and faulty
heating stoves.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said Christophe Kyababchyan, a
34-year-old French citizen, was found dead in his apartment by his
business partner.

The ministry said an improperly installed gas heater was likely to
blame.

The incident brings the number of gas poisonings in Armenia in the
past year to 26, 16 of which occurred in December alone, according to
emergency officials. The prosecutor general’s office, however, says
there were 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.

01/27/05 11:46 EST