Infant killed by toxic gas from nearby flat

A 21-day-old Syrian boy died after inhaling toxic gas reaching his apartment from the neighboring flat in Sharjah after tenants sprayed banned insecticide in that flat.

Police said they arrested the tenant on charges of accidentally causing the death of another person and are searching for the dealer who sold him that insecticide.

“Tests showed that the insecticide sprayed in that flat emitted toxic gas through the AC opening and it reached the other apartment…the tests showed that this insecticide is not allowed to be used domestically,” a police source said, quoted by the Arabic language daily Emarat Alyoum.

The source said the tenant of the neighboring flat told investigators that he did not know the insecticide is banned and he bought it from a local vendor.

The paper quoted Colonel Abdul Qadir Al Amiri, director of the forensic laboratory in Sharjah as saying tests showed that the gas that caused the baby’s death was aluminum phosphide and that some empty bottles of the insecticide were found at the entrance of the building. “Our men found that some children were playing with these bottles, which could explode if they are close to fire,” he said.

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