Winemaking fumes kill three people

29 September 2009 | 08:23:28 AM | Source: AFP/SBS

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Winemakers are advised to wear masks to protect them from alcohol fumes (Getty)

Three Portuguese winemakers died when they inhaled noxious fumes released by fermenting grapes.

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The three victims were found dead inside a wine tank in the cellar of a house near
the central city of Coimbra.

It is thought they inhaled deadly gases produced during the fermentation process, and collapsed inside the metre-and-a-half deep vat.

"One of them probably died trying to help get the other two out of the tank because he was found leaning on the wall of the tank," said Coimbra firefighter Antonio Carvalho.

The three victims, a married couple who lived at the house and a male friend who was helping them, were not wearing masks to protect themselves from the alcohol vapours.

"We are faced every year with accidents of this kind because people do not know that these gases are dangerous, especially in a poorly ventilated small space like that cellar," said Carvalho.

 

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