Ammonia Fridges

I suggest that the cause of death is still speculation.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Is it possible this is a carbon monoxide poisoning?

Could be any of the above, most commonly it would be carbon monoxide and/or lack of oxygen if the tent was closed with a gas flame in there running a fridge. Ususally the pilot auto extinguishes if it goes out, due to them having a safety valve. Amonia is very pungent....but also very poisonous.

I don't know how toxic ammonia is but I can tell you it is not odorless .
I have been in many ammonia cool rooms in India with lots of leaks and you really catch your breath.
Isn't ammonia used in smelling salts to wake people up?

HI
Fridges in vans are vented to outside air . Having a 3way inside a tent is dangerous. 2 forms of gas to try and kill ya , ammonia and LPG .

Could of been the dog farts LOL

Equinox, I think you are jumping to conclusions. There is no mention in any of the reports about ammonia. As someone else suggested running a 3 way fridge in a tent is dangerous. There are a couple of car frig types which run on gas.
Lets wait on the final report.

I owned a 1930's double-door, wooden-framed 240V fridge powered by ammonia, it was used as a beer and drinks fridge in the shed in the 1980's, after I acquired it from the old lady next door.

It sprang a leak around 1990, and I took it to a fridge repair shop and tried to get it repaired and re-gassed, and the fridge repair bloke told me they stopped using ammonia refrigerant many years before, and it could not be repaired.
So I left it with him to be scrapped. Bit of a shame really, it was a real classic antique fridge and 1930's furniture item.

So, AFAIK, there are no recent-model fridges (in the last 40 years) using ammonia for refrigerant gas today, unless it's an original 1930's fridge they have been using.

I would more than likely suspect these people were gassed by carbon monoxide, the real stealth killer - or propane.
Contrary to many peoples beliefs, "pongy" gases will not wake you up. This has been proven by testing.

What does wake people up, is auditory stimulation, we are conditioned to be alert to strange noises, even when asleep.
There have been many fatal gassing events recorded, when people have been asleep, and failed to be woken by the gas smell.

ABC News (U.S.A.) - Odours aren't likely to awaken sleepers

Cheers, Ron.

99.999% that is was carbon monoxide. The trouble with it is that you don't know you are breathing it. As you breath it in the Haemoglobin has a greater affinity for CO, than for Oxygen.

So the CO eventually binds with enough of the Haemoglobin so that your blood can't carry enough Oxygen around the body and you first become unconscious and then pass away. A very painless death.

Oxyhaemoglobin is a nice red colour, Carboxy haemoglobin is an even brighter red and one of the symptoms of CO poisoning is a very ruddy complexion.

The idea of running any un-flued gas appliance in a confined space such as a caravan, tent etc horrifies me, but a lot of caravanners/campers still do it.

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Is there a prize for the closest guess?
Bit of a grisly contest!