Twelve people have d!ed of carbon monoxide poisoning at a ski station in Georgia.
The bodies of 11 foreigners and one Georgian national were found in bedrooms on the second floor above an Indian restaurant, police said today.
A spokesman added that ‘preliminary tests do not indicate any trace of violence on the bodies’.
The ministry has launched an investigation into the deaths in Gudauri, in the north of the Caucasus country, which are reportedly being treated as negligent manslaughter.
The initial investigation revealed that an electric power generator, which was located in an enclosed space near the bedrooms the 12 people slept in, was switched on the day before following a power outage.
‘An oil-powered generator was turned on after the building lost electricity’ on Friday, police said.
Investigators are trying to establish whether this could have been the cause of the carbon monoxide buildup that reportedly poisoned the victims.
Autopsies have been ordered to determine the cause of d.eath of the 12 people, whom Georgian officials say are presumed to be employees of the restaurant.
The identities of the victims have not yet been released.
