Russian tourists die of swamp gas poisoning in hotel in Uzbekistan

The bodies of two Russian tourists who died as a result of poisoning with an unknown substance at Karaman Palace Hotel in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, were sent home, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Uzbekistan said.

A forensic examination is to be conducted to establish the exact cause of death of the travelers.

On the evening of October 20, hotel staff found the bodies of two Russians in their room. They were identified as journalist Inessa Papernaya and her friend Maxim Radchenko. The body of another guest, a citizen of Uzbekistan, was found in the bathroom of the room next door.

It is believed that the tourists died as a result of exposure to swamp gas (methane). This gas is formed as organic matter gets decomposed in the water. The gas could have gotten into the ventilation system after employees cleaned the hotel pool.

The doctors who arrived at the scene said that the cause of the tourists died as a result of "poisoning of unknown etiology.”

Details

Marsh gas also known as swamp gas or bog gas, is a mixture primarily of methane and smaller amounts of hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and trace phosphine that is produced naturally within some geographical marshes, swamps, and bogs. The surface of marshes, swamps, and bogs is initially porous vegetation that rots to form a crust that prevents oxygen from reaching the organic material trapped below. That is the condition that allows anaerobic digestion and fermentation of any plant or animal matter, which then produces methane. The trapped methane can escape through any of three main pathways: by the diffusion of methane molecules across an air–water interface, by bubbling out of water in a process known as ebullition, or through plant-mediated transport.