ARCHIVED - Woman dies in Santiago de la Ribera after inhaling barbecue fumes
A children’s birthday party ends in tragedy in the municipality of San Javier
A 36-year-old woman died in Santiago de la Ribera on Saturday night after inhaling the smoke from the remains of a barbecue which had been in use at her daughter’s birthday party, and her 43-year-old partner was found in a coma and taken to hospital.
It is thought that the couple had placed the barbecue inside in order to warm the room up inside the house in Plaza de la Fuensanta, or possibly to prevent the glowing embers from being scattered by the strong wind, but the consequence was that they inhaled carbon monoxide and the tragedy was discovered on Sunday morning. Following instructions given over the telephone by staff at the 112 emergency call centre, the 22-year-old son of the man taken to hospital removed both of them and placed them outside in the hope that they would recover, but the woman, Belén, was found to be beyond help by ambulance staff when they arrived at the scene.
Meanwhile, the nine children in the house were ushered into the living-room so that they could not witness the drama as it unfolded.