Gas leak kills woman and three children in Istanbul

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

AA Photo

A woman and her three children have died from carbon monoxide poisoning after a gas leak at their flat in Istanbul.

The incident took place at night on Jan. 3 when the mother, 36-year-old Hediye Üzümcü, put her three kids to bed near the natural gas heater at home.

The father, Salih Üzümcü, was outside at the time of the accident but returned home earlier than planned after no one at home answered his phone calls. 

Hediye Üzümcü and her three children aged between nine and four, Baran, Rojhad and Zeynep, had fainted by the time Salih Üzümcü arrived at the apartment. 

All four were rushed to the Gaziosmanpaşa Taksim Training and Research Hospital, where they were declared dead. 

Carbon monoxide and natural gas were detected during a search by crime scene investigation teams and the Istanbul Gas Distribution Industry and Trade Incorporated Company (İGDAŞ).

A faulty gas heater was suspected as the cause of the leak, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported. 

Meanwhile, three people from the same family were killed due to carbon monoxide poisoning in the southern province of Antalya on Jan. 4. 

Muhammet Yılmaz, 62, his wife Hamide Yılmaz, and their son Sungur Yılmaz were found dead in their home in the Aksu district of Antalya by their relatives.

Colorless and odorless carbon monoxide mixes directly with the blood when inhaled.