Gas leak from car kills Elderly Malayalee couple in US
Synopsis
An elderly couple from Kottayam met with a tragic death on Saturday in their house in the United States apparently after inhaling poisonous gas leaked from their car parked in the garage.
The couple, MM Kuruvilla, 82 and wife Leelamma, 77, was found dead in their bedrooms on Wednesday. Both hail from Kottayam in Kerala. Police suspect that the couple might have inhaled poisonous carbon monoxide that accidentally leaked from their car's air conditioner.
Once a week Kuruvila used to keep the engines of his car running for an hour in the garage. The police suspect that, the elderly man, who has been under treatment for amnesia, might have forgotten to turn off the car before going to bed, leading to the accident. The air conditioner of the car must have burst causing the fatal gas leak.
The incident came to light on Wednesday when the elder daughter of the couple came looking for her parents after they failed to respond to repeated phone calls. The dead bodies were found in different rooms. Kuruvilla is a retired mechanical engineer and Leelamma a retired nurse. They are settled in the US for past 40 years.
The couple is survived by two daughters and a son, all settled in the US.