Investigation into death of family of four in Torrox points to faulty gas installation
After several hours of inspecting the small family home, the Guardia Civil issued an initial report pointing to an 'accident' due to a fault in the heating system following a switch from electricity to gas
Tragedy struck the municipality of Torrox on Tuesday, where a family of four of Moroccan origin were found dead in their home after a carbon monoxide poisoning. According to the initial inspection of the Guardia Civil, the case is handled as an "accident" caused by a faulty installation during the switch from electricity to gas, which led to the leak and the subsequent asfyxiation while the family were sleeping.
The Rabah family - Said, 53, Saadia Ettaba, 38, and their sons, 17 and 19 - lost their lives to what is known as a "sweet death" by carbon monoxide asphyxiation. Around 125 people die in Spain every year due to bad combustion in their homes, while between 5,000 and 10,000 people suffer non-fatal poisoning, especially in winter, when the use of heaters increases.
The bodies of the Rabah family members were found by neighbours after 3.20pm. When the police entered the house, the bodies were already markedly stiff, suggesting that they had died several hours earlier, during the early hours of the morning. The father, Said, was lying on the sofa in the living room; the mother, Saadia, in one of the bedrooms; and their sons, Mohamed and Mustafa, were found in the next room.
A minute's silence was held by Torrox residents, authorities and friends of the Rabah family in Plaza de la Constitución on Wednesday. Mayor Óscar Medina told the media that the initial investigation points to "bad combustion and a gas leak". "The police are investigating the exact time it occurred, but everything points to the bad combustion of a heater," he said.
According to SUR, the family had recently replaced the electric boiler with a butane gas system, with two gas bottles connected to the appliance. A faulty installation, combined with a lack of ventilation (all the windows remained closed during the night in a house of barely 50 square metres), created the lethal atmosphere. The deaths are therefore investigated as a tragic "accident", ruling out, in principle, other hypotheses of a malicious or intentional nature.
The incident has shocked the town of more than 22,000 inhabitants and especially the large Moroccan community of around 1,000 residents. The mayor called for extreme caution with gas heating systems and recommended periodically checking installations to detect possible leaks. In addition, authorities insist on the importance of adequate ventilation and the installation of carbon monoxide detectors.
