Parents, child found dead inside enclosed room with burning charcoals

Their family members in Lang Giang District did not see them wake up Sunday morning, so they opened the doors and saw the 41-year-old husband, 40-year-old wife and 5-year-old son having already died. They were inside an enclosed room that spans 20 m2.

An official of Ha An Commune said there were five members in the family. A grandmother and younger child slept in a different room the night before.

“Over the last few days it was cold, so the family might have burned coal to stay warm, leading to gas poisoning,” the official said.

Previously on Jan. 22, a couple in Lang Son in northern Vietnam also burned coal inside their room, leading to the husband falling unconscious and taken to the hospital. Two women were also taken to the Thanh Hoa general hospital in a coma on Jan. 24 due to burning coals inside an enclosed room.

A severe cold wave has been sweeping across northern Vietnam since Jan. 23, plunging temperatures down and making several people trying to warm themselves up inside their homes through different means. Experts have warned people not to burn coals inside enclosed rooms due to risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.