OVERCOME BY FUMES
DEATH OF LITTLE CHILD POISON GAS IN PIT ROTORUA WARNING The danger of suffocation from sulphur fumes to men excavating pits and trenches in the Rotorua district was emphasised by the borough engineer, Mr. F. C. Bunyard, at an inquest into the death of a four-year-old child; Raymond James Robfrt Young, son of Mr. and Mrs. J. D Young, who was found dead at the bottom of a pit 6ft deep at his home in the vicinity of Whakarewarewa. Dr. M. C. Moore stated that death was due to exposure to a high concentration of sulphurated gases. He had noticed a strong smell of gases i i the hole where the child’s body was found.
Mr. F. C. Bunyard, engineer for the Rotorua Borough Council, said that he had inspected the hole and found strong evidence of sulphuretted hydrogen, a very dangerous gas. Once a person became overcome with such gas there would be little hope of escaping from a pit. A child would be rendered insensible within a few moments. Council employees were always warned of the dangers of such gas, and he suggested that schoolmasters should be asked to warn children of the danger of playing about such places. A verdict of accidental death was returned.
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Bibliographic details
Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20119, 13 December 1939, Page 8
Word Count
211OVERCOME BY FUMES Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20119, 13 December 1939, Page 8
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