Photo: KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP / Getty Images
For: The Opinion
Friday, September 20
Carbon monoxide poisoning: cause of death of Honduran family revealed
The seven members of a family from Honduras who died at their home in Minnesota were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning .
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office, where Moorhead is located, posted the preliminary results of a blood test performed on the victims and these reflect a “ lethal level of carbon monoxide toxicity ”in Honduran immigrants.
The victims were a married couple formed by Belin Hernández, from 37 years, and Marleny Pinto, of 34, who died along with their three children, Breylin (16), Mike (7) and Marbely (5), in addition by Eldor Hernández Castillo (32) and Mariela Guzmán Pinto (19), uncle and niece.
Previously, the forensic doctor had already ruled out trauma as the cause of death for Hondurans, that were discovered last Saturday by relatives of the family who came to their home when they had no news of them.
A furnace and a vehicle
Research has found two possible sources of carbon monoxide , a furnace located in a room separated within the garage area and that has an outside air intake, and a Kia pickup that was in the garage and was found with a discharged battery and a half-full gas tank.
The detectives have worked to try to discover what could be the origin of carbon monoxide, but “they could not duplicate a malfunction of the oven ”and the truck, whose alternator was working properly, did not have a charged battery.
The authorities are carrying out plus testing of the victims’ blood samples to determine if hydrogen cyanide is present, which that could point to the truck as the cause of what happened.
The results of these tests could take up to eight weeks, they indicated in the bulletin, in which the Police detailed that the last inspection of the house building was carried out in September 2020 and in it no problems were found with installed detectors .
The relatives had indicated that they believed that the death of this family from San Francisco de Yojoa, in the Honduran department of Cortés, could be due to inhalation of carbon monoxide when trying to heat their home.
“The investigation is still active ”, said the Police while waiting for the next laboratory results.
Shannon Monroe, chief of police of Moorhead, assures that “most (of the victims) were in their beds and appeared to be asleep” .
Meanwhile relatives and friends organize collections to pay for the repatriation of the corpses to Honduras.
With information from EFE.
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