Georgia's Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania has died, with initial indications the cause was gas poisoning, the ex-Soviet state's Interior Minister said. "Since he did not answer his telephone for a long period his bodyguard broke through the window ... and found Mr Zhvania's body. We can say that this is a case of gas poisoning," Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said on Georgian television.Zhvania was found dead at 4:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) on Thursday morning along with an unnamed friend, Merabishvili said. It was not immediately clear if Zhvania was in his own apartment or elsewhere, or whether he died as a result of foul play. Zhvania, who was 41, was appointed prime minister in January 2003 by President Mikhail Saakashvili, who was swept to power by a wave of protests over a fraudulent election that forced veteran leader Eduard Shevardnadze to resign.
Additional:The prime minister was visiting the Tbilisi apartment of his friend, Zurab Usupov, deputy governor of the Kvemo-Kartli region, who also died, Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said on Rustavi-2 television. Security guards broke through a window when they heard no signs of life from inside several hours after the prime minister arrived, Merabishvili said. Zhvania had entered the apartment about midnight Wednesday, and the guards came in between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. "It is an accident," Merabishvili said. "We can say that poisoning by gas took place." A gas-fired heating stove was in the main room of the mezzanine-floor apartment, where a table was set up with a backgammon set lying open upon it. Zhvania was in a chair; Usupov's body was found in the kitchen. Police declined to give further details.
Levan Chichua, a top official in Georgia's National Bureau of Forensic Medicine, said there were no signs of violence and that preliminary examination showed both died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Deputy Prosecutor-General Georgy Dzhanashia told journalists the heater was installed "with serious technical violations ... there was no ventilation in the apartment." Central heating is scarce in Georgia. Many people rely on gas or wood stoves in their homes and fatal malfunctions are often reported.
| Well, as much as I like a good conspiricy, it looks like a tragic accident. Carbon monoxide poisoning from bad heaters happens all the time, even in the US, during colder months. |