Gas leak kills six in Tajik leather factory

A carbon monoxide leak has killed six workers in a leather factory in Tajikistan, the Central Asian country's emergencies committee said on Wednesday.

Four other workers of the Kukhandiz plant in the capital Dushanbe were being treated in hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning, the committee's press service said. It said the leak occurred on Tuesday.

The leak is the worst industrial accident in Dushanbe since Tajikistan, the poorest former Soviet republic in Central Asia, became independent 20 years ago.