Charcoal kills man while asleep

A Saudi filled his traditional fireplace with wood and charcoal to evade the night chill and lay on his bed. Feeling warm, he fell asleep but never woke up again.

Civil defence men who smashed their way into the house in the central town of Taif found the 47-year-old man dead in his bed while the fireplace was still on.

“Police said the man died because of his inhalation of carbon monoxide from the fireplace while asleep in a badly ventilated and shut room,” Alwatan newspaper said in a report on Wednesday.