Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Six people have died and three others have been affected in a suspected poisoning incident at a residential building under construction in Tashkent’s Mirzo-Ulugbek district, according to preliminary information from Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The ministry said an emergency call was received at 9:53 a.m. on 25 October via the 112 service, reporting that nine people had been found unconscious in a house in the Alisherobod mahalla.
The incident occurred in a two-storey residential building under construction on an 800-square-metre plot connected to the natural gas supply. Preliminary information indicates that six people died from poisoning of an undetermined nature.
Two of the affected individuals were taken to the Republican Scientific Centre for Emergency Medical Care. According to information available on 25 October, both were in intensive care. The condition of the third affected person was assessed as satisfactory at that time.
A preliminary list identified the deceased as men born in 1982, 2008, 2008, 2004, 2000 and 2000.
The two people hospitalised were born in 2000 and 2008.
All eight people identified in the lists of deceased and hospitalised individuals were residents of the Amudarya and Ellikkala districts of Karakalpakstan.
Personnel from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the prosecutor’s office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Security Service and other agencies arrived at the scene. A forensic medical examination has been ordered, and a preliminary inquiry is under way.
The official cause of the incident has not yet been established. As of the time of publication, no responses had been received to inquiries sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Emergency Situations about the cause of the incident and the progress of the investigation.
Meanwhile, a resident of the Alisherobod mahalla said emergency services personnel had been conducting preventive visits to homes to warn residents about carbon monoxide poisoning.
According to local residents, one of the officials said the inspections were being carried out on the personal instructions of the minister of emergency situations and referred to 12 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning in one of the capital’s mahallas. This information has not been independently confirmed in the report.
The cause of the deaths and the circumstances of the incident remain under investigation.
