Gas leak kills sleeping family

By Lydia Chen  |   2008-12-8  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

FOUR family members, including a 12-year-old girl, died from gas poisoning in Shanghai's Luwan District yesterday morning.

Police said a gas water heater and worn gas pipelines could have caused the accident.

The victims included a couple in their 70s, their daughter-in-law and 12-year-old granddaughter. The family lived at a residential building on Luban Road, police said.

Police said the couple's son returned home around 9am yesterday after working night shift and found a strong smell of gas in the room. The four were all in bed unconscious.

Doctors said the victims were dead when they were found.

Police said an initial investigation showed an old water heater that lacked a forced ventilation system could have caused the accident. Neighbors said the family always kept their apartment windows closed.

The Shanghai Commission Consumers' Rights and Interests Protection last week warned residents not to use expired gas water heaters.

The bureau said many local families were using heaters that had passed their expiry date.