Freon Kills Two Workers In İzmir, Another Dies In Fire

Two workers died from Freon gas inhalation while working on clearing a junk ship on Saturday in the province of İzmir.



Doğan Balcı (37) and Davut Özdemir (40) were initially poisoned on Thursday, the first day of Eid al-Fitr, from Freon gas that had leaked from an air conditioner in the ship. However, their symptoms were not taken seriously. A relative of Balcı said: "Doğan came over to our house on the second day of Eid and said he had been exposed to poison at work along with three others. However, they were given a yogurt drink by their employer instead of being taken to a hospital. He had complained about pain in his foot."



Balcı and his friends were called back to work again on Saturday despite the unsafe work conditions. Balcı and Özdemir died shortly thereafter, while nine other workers were hospitalized. Balcı's wife, Hatice Balcı, said her husband was just a watchman but that the company had made him work inside the ship, which is how we exposed to the Freon. Meanwhile, one person was killed and another injured on Sunday in a factory fire in the western province of Kocaeli.



(Cihan/Today's Zaman)