Cigarette stub smoke kills man

A STAFF REPORTER

A man died in his sleep after inhaling carbon monoxide produced by a cigarette he probably forgot to stub out.

Debu Rajak, 30, was found dead in an office on the ground floor of a four-storey building on Mahim Haldar Street in Kalighat on Monday. An electrical mechanic, he slept in the office at night.

Both windows in the room were shut and the door was locked. The bedding and some of Rajak’s toes were burnt.

“Preliminary investigation suggests carbon monoxide poisoning. We will know for sure after the post-mortem,” said Pallab Kanti Ghosh, joint commissioner (crime). A cigarette packet was found near the body in the smoke-filled room, police said.

Neighbours claimed Rajak was drunk when he entered the office on Sunday night.

Rajak’s uncle Bablu Chowdhury, who runs a laundry in the building, decided to check on Rajak when he missed prayer on Monday morning and his phone went unanswered.

The above is from the Telegraph.

Just to let our readers know that even a small seemingly innocuous thing like a burnt cigarette butt may cause death.