7 May 2012

Girl dies after sleeping near disposable barbecue

Family rushed to hospital with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning after tragedy at campsite.

Bucknell

A teenage girl has died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning after falling asleep near a disposable barbecue while on a camping holiday.

The girl, thought to be 14, was pronounced dead at the scene, despite efforts by a doctor staying on the site and paramedics to revive her after her heart stopped.

The dead girl’s 11-year-old brother and their parents were found unconscious at the scene shortly before 10am on Sunday and taken to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

The owners of the site, in the village of Bucknell, said a disposable barbecue was found in the porch of the family’s tent.

Phil and Debra Wright, who own the Baron at Bucknell pub and its adjacent campsite, said the family was part of a larger group made up of the mother’s two sisters and their respective partners and children, staying in a number of tents on the site.

Mr Wright said the group had arrived at the site on Saturday but relatives had become concerned when nobody in the family’s tent awoke yesterday morning.

Nobody has done anything wrong, they have just not realised the dangers of disposable barbecues. Phil Wright

He said: “They had gone into the tent and found them all unconscious. One of the sisters came and said: ‘We need an ambulance urgently’.

“There was a disposable barbecue which they had used the night before in the porch of the tent.

“The emergency services were on the scene within five minutes. They worked on the girl for some time but they couldn’t save her.

“It has been devastating. It is really tragic. Nobody has done anything wrong, they have just not realised the dangers of disposable barbecues.

“You don’t realise that they are giving off fumes for hours and hours after you have used them.”

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “Crews arrived at the campsite to find CPR being carried out on a girl who was in cardiac arrest.

“Ambulance crews continued resuscitation efforts in an attempt to restart the girl’s heart. Sadly, despite their best efforts nothing could be done to save the girl and she was confirmed dead on scene.

“A boy, believed to be 11 years old, was suffering from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.

“Crews and the doctor began oxygen therapy and, due to his serious condition, the boy was airlifted to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital for emergency treatment. Paramedics continued to monitor the boy’s condition on route to hospital.

“A woman and man were also given oxygen therapy by ambulance crews before being taken by land ambulance on blue lights to the same hospital for further treatment.”

Detective Inspector Gavin Kinrade from West Mercia Police said: “We will continue to work with the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service to investigate this incident.

“We are treating the girl’s death as unexplained, but there do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.”

He added: “The teenage boy is described as being stable but as still ‘unwell’ at the hospital this morning, while the man and the woman are now said to be in a comfortable condition.”

In brief statement released by the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital on their behalf, the extended family said: “Our priority as a family is to ensure that the three people in hospital get well and are fully recovered.

“We are devastated by this tragic accident and will release a full statement at a later date.”