TWO Iranian men in their mid-to-early thirties were found dead yesterday on their beds in a state of decomposition in Limassol’s Mesa Yitonia, apparently having asphyxiated several days ago from a gas leak or oxygen-depletion.
The Iranian men were found after a compatriot tried unsuccessfully to reach one of the two men on his mobile.
Along with his Cypriot wife and another Cypriot, the Iranian man then visited the house of the two Iranian men on the heavily populated Stylianou Lena road in Mesa Yitonia.
Arriving shortly after 4pm, they saw through the half-opened window the two men in advanced states of decomposition on their beds. They then immediately contacted the police.
Police cordoned off the area but did not enter the small room in which the two dead men were laid out until it was disinfected.
It was reported that one of the men was a political refugee, while the other came illegally to the island through the north.
After preliminary investigations, State Pathologist Sophocles Sophocleous ruled out the possibility of criminal action.
Police Assistant Chief of Training Theodoros Stylianou said that the cause of death appeared to be asphyxiation. A gas heater found in the on-position, as well as some other evidence, suggests that their death was likely due to a gas leak, although the possibility of monoxide poisoning has not been ruled out.
Due to the smallness of the room they were in, an undetected gas leak or an oxygen-burning gas heater left on for too long may have been enough to send them in a coma while they were asleep.
Sophocleous said he would not be able to determine the moment of death until the full autopsies are performed, but said they had been dead for a number of days.
The Trade Ministry last month issued a warning to the public to make sure that any gas in the house can be detected by smell. The government warning came after it was discovered that tanks of odourless gas were circulating around the island, which poses a danger as undetected leaks could lead to explosions or gas poisoning.
The Trade Ministry said that the gas sold in December “did not contain the sufficient quantity of sulphur mercaptan to be sufficiently recognisable with its characteristic disagreeable odour.”
