KATHMANDU: In a shocking tragic incident, eight from a team of 15 Kerala tourists were found dead in a hotel room in Nepal on Tuesday morning. They were found dead in Everest Panorama Resort in Daman. Their deaths were confirmed by doctors in a nearby hospital, where they had been airlifted to.

Chenkottukonam Rohinippadam resident Praveen Kumar Nair (39), an engineer who was working abroad, his wife Saranya (34), who was pursuing BFarm in Amrita Institute, their children Sreebhadra (9) Abhinav Surya, (7) and Abhinav Nair (6), Praveen’s friend and Kozhikode native Renjith Kumar T B (39) his wife Indu Renjith (34) and their son Vaishnav Renjith (2) are the dead.

The 15-member team reached the resort on Monday night at 9.30 pm. They had booked four rooms in the resort. They stayed in four different rooms.

It is reported that the team had switched on heater in their rooms as the weather was very cold. As the heater had some complaint, there was leak of Carbon Monoxide from the heater in the rooms of the dead ones; the leak of this gas is said to be reason for the deaths.

Carbon Monoxide, the silent killer!

Carbon Monoxide is a gas that doesn’t have smell, colour or taste and because of these features it is a very dangerous gas.

By breathing in this gas, it enters the blood stream of the inhaler, resulting in his or her death. The danger happens when the red blood cells absorb the Carbon Monoxide and the level of oxygen in the blood decreases. The victim will become unconscious and soon death follows.

If such inhalation of Carbon Monoxide happens in closed rooms or closed vehicles, the chances for escape from death is very less. Many have died during sleep in closed rooms caused by this silent killer called Carbon Monoxide.

If an affected person is rushed to an open space or room with good ventilation without delay, the chances of his survival is more.
Appliances like heater should be timely checked and properly maintained. Fixing alarms to notify Carbon Monoxide leak will also help avoid such tragedies.