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Twelve people have died of carbon monoxide poisoning in what appeared to be an accident at a ski station in Georgia.
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 on Monday.
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.
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.