A woman has died allegedly from carbon monoxide poisoning supposedly caused by sleeping with a generator on during load shedding. Photo: Stock Image / Pixabay
Load shedding: One dead, 3 critical allegedly from generator fumes
A woman has died and three others are critical allegedly from carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator used during load shedding.
A woman has died allegedly from carbon monoxide poisoning supposedly caused by sleeping with a generator on during load shedding. Photo: Stock Image / Pixabay
One woman has died and three of her family members are in hospital from possible carbon monoxide poisoning.
Reports revealed that the police are investigating the death of the Johannesburg-based Pakistani woman. The woman reportedly passed away during load shedding.
ALSO READ: Britain warned to prepare for ‘load shedding’ in January
What happened?
The Citizen reports that the discovery was made on the morning of Wednesday, 19 October. This was after the woman and her family did not respond to calls.
A neighbour reportedly found the family unconscious.
Speaking to The Citizen, Dr Khalid M Mirza of the Overseas Pakistanis Advisory Council (OPAC) in Africa said the matter had been reported to the police.
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Mirza said the family reportedly fell asleep during load shedding with their generator on in a garage and their doors closed.
“According to reports, during load shedding last night, unfortunately, the family fell asleep leaving their generator on in a garage with closed doors,”
Mirza said.
Condolences have been conveyed
Mirza stated that the woman’s death appeared to be from carbon monoxide poisoning. He added that three other family members are in ICU and are currently in critical condition.
He further sent his condolences to the family during this difficult time. Mirza also requested that those using a generator ensure that the device is in a room away from the main living areas.
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“May Allah grant Jannatul Firdous to the deceased and full recovery to those who are hospitalised. I would like to make a humble request to have a dedicated generator room away from main living areas, so that an incident of this nature doesn’t happen again,” he said.
Stage 2 and 3 load shedding until Monday – here’s the schedule
Meanwhile, it was reported that South Africans are now set to spend the weekend, or at least part of it, in the dark.
Power utility Eskom is continuing with the implementation of various stages of load shedding at least until Monday morning.
While the rolling blackouts are expected to continue until Monday morning, if history has taught us anything, all that could change. Read the full story here.
