They were stomping grapes in the conventional manner with their feet, in a vat that was approximately four square meters in size.
The grapes belonged to a small-scale winemaker who had recruited three friends to help vinify his 2008 vintage. It is feared that they became unconscious by the carbon dioxide fumes that are produced during fermentation. The two men did not regain consciousness, despite attempts to resuscitate them.
The owner of the estate and the third person who was helping with the winemaking, survived. A fireman and the friend were also treated for inhalation of carbonic gas in a hospital.
Suffocation through carbon monoxide is a common cause of death which unfortunately took many lives in the tragic fire at the Uphaar cinema too in Delhi several years ago. Occasionally, people die of choking while inhaling the gas, sleeping in a closed room with coal fired angeethi, for the same reasons.
Occasionally, one hears about someone dying in a car during winter while waiting for it to warm up, as the poisonous carbon monoxide creeps in through the leaking pipes. But all these instances are caused due to carbon monoxide.
An autopsy to confirm the cause of death due to be carried out according to Le Post will clarify the cause and whether it was a freak case. |