Parents of boy, seven, who died from toxic fumes in his home demand public inquiry
Parents of boy, seven, who died from toxic fumes in his home demand a public inquiry – and deliver petition of 117,000 signatures to Downing Street
- Zane Gbangbola, 7, died from toxic fumes at home in Chertsey, Surrey, in 2014
- Cyanide is suspected to have seeped into his house from old military landfill site
- Coroner blamed death on fumes from a petrol pump used to clear floodwater
The parents of a seven-year-old boy who died from toxic fumes in his home have delivered a petition of 117,000 signatures to Downing Street demanding a public inquiry.
Firefighters and Zane Gbangbola’s parents urged Liz Truss to ‘end the cover-up’ during her last days as Prime Minister.
Zane died during flooding in Chertsey, Surrey, in 2014. Cyanide is suspected to have seeped in from an old military landfill site.
Zane’s mum Nicole, pictured at a protest with Jeremy Corbyn outside Parliament in 2014, has now eight years on handed a petition to Downing Street demanding a public inquiry
As Environment Secretary, Ms Truss pledged to ‘resolve this case as quickly as possible’ – but eight years later Zane’s parents are still fighting authorities for answers.
His mother Nicole said: ‘We will die fighting if we have to.’
Fire crews detected cyanide in the home. The incident also left Zane’s father Kye paralysed.
A coroner blamed Zane’s death on fumes from a petrol pump used to clear floodwater.
But this newspaper found official files that showed hydrogen cyanide was detected in Zane’s home the night he died, and incident logs said the petrol pump had not been in use.
A Government spokesman said: ‘The Environment Agency provided detailed evidence to assist the independent coroner in reaching his conclusions.’
The family of Zane Gbangbola say they want answers over the seven-year-old’s death, caused they say by flood water bringing fatal levels of hydrogen cyanide into their Surrey home from a neighbouring landfill site in February 2014