Letters July 29: Fatal lack of information about a deadly gas

TERENCE Hollingworth’s statement (The Yorkshire Post, July 22) that we need to accept responsibility by checking for hazards we could well know about when we are away from home is certainly true.

However, what he has missed in the case involving the tragic deaths of Bobby and Christi Shepherd is that there was no boiler in any of the rooms the family was given.

Even worse, the travel firm had been assured there were no gas boilers in the apartments. This was true.

The boiler involved was between the apartments, venting close to the air-conditioning fan installations.

When I raised my concerns about possible carbon monoxide intrusion into my own premises I too was told that there had been “only” approximately 40 deaths a year from carbon monoxide poisoning in this country.

Later research revealed 
that there may be as many as 4,000 hospital admissions of patients suffering some 
effects of poisoning, as did the parents in this case, during any one year.

I am not sure whether any builder is still able to sell 
new builds with smoke only, rather than combined carbon monoxide and smoke alarms in this day and age.