China reports 12 dead in string of gas poisonings
A string of household carbon monoxide poisonings blamed on coal stoves has killed 12 people in China’s north-east and sickened more than 200, the government said today.
The poisonings occurred this week in and around the city of Yanji in China’s frigid north-east, near the North Korean border, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Preliminary investigations showed the deaths were caused by toxic fumes from household coal stoves, Xinhua said.
A total of 227 people were admitted to hospital with gas poisoning and 12 died, the report said.
Dozens of deaths are reported every winter in China’s north from heater fumes in poorly-ventilated houses and apartments.
