Twelve people have died of carbon monoxide poisoning in what appeared to be an accident at a ski station in Georgia, police said on Monday.
The bodies of 11 foreigners and one Georgian national were found in bedrooms on the second floor above an Indian restaurant at the ski station of Gudauri, in the north of the Caucasus country, police said.
A spokesperson added that ‘preliminary tests do not indicate any trace of violence on the bodies’.
The people are presumed to be employees of the restaurant, according to the Georgian Interior Ministry.
The ministry has launched an investigation into the ‘tragic’ deaths, which are reportedly being treated as negligent manslaughter.
The initial investigation revealed that an electric power generator, which was located in an enclosed space near the bedrooms the 12 people slept in, was switched on the day before following a power outage.
‘An oil-powered generator was turned on after the building lost electricity’ on Friday, police said.
Investigators are trying to establish whether this could have been the cause of the carbon monoxide buildup that reportedly poisoned the 12 victims.
The bodies of 11 foreigners and one Georgian national were found in a sleeping area above an Indian restaurant at the ski station of Gudauri, in the north of the Caucasus country, police said (file image of Gudauri)
Autopsies have been ordered to determine the exact cause of death of the 12 restaurant employees.
The identities of the victims were not immediately released.
This comes amid pro-EU protests in Georgia, which saw police fire tear gas and water cannons at demonstrators earlier this month.
Dozens of people were left hospitalised following the protests in the Georgian capital Tbilisi against the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union until 2028.
The Georgian prime minister rebuffed calls for new elections and blamed ‘foreign instructors’ for the clashes.
Waving European and Georgian flags, tens of thousands rallied outside parliament on the evening of December 1, according to reports.
Some demonstrators tossed fireworks and stones at riot police, while others banged on the metal door blocking parliament’s entrance.
Police later fired water cannons, but were unable to disperse the crowds. Late at night, riot police in full gear moved in, using tear gas and water cannon to disperse the rally.
Police uses tear gas as protesters surrounded the parliament building and threw pyrotechnics and other objects during demonstrations in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi on December 4, 2024
Fireworks launched by anti-government protesters explode near police forces during a sixth consecutive day of mass demonstrations against the government’s postponement of European Union accession talks until 2028, in central Tbilisi on December 3, 2024
Shouting ‘f*** Russia’, protesters built barricades from dustbins and set them ablaze. Nearby, priests offered shelter to some protesters inside a church.
The Black Sea nation has been rocked by turmoil since the governing Georgian Dream party claimed victory in October 26 parliamentary polls – elections that the pro-European opposition said were fraudulent.
While Georgian Dream rejects links to the Kremlin, critics accuse it of adopting a number of Russian-style laws targeting civil society groups who receive funding from abroad, as well as LGBT rights.