Parents, five children killed by gas leak at home in Cairo

A father, a mother, and their five children were found dead on Monday in their flat in the poor El-Sharabiya neighbourhood in the Egyptian capital Cairo as a result of a gas leak, according to local news reports.

Autopsy reports confirmed that the cause of death of the seven victims had been suffocation by gas inhalation, the online portal of local Al-Shourouk newspaper reported.

The police questioned neighbours to rule out foul play, the reports added.

Similar incidents recurrently occur in Egypt, with most of their victims being children.

Earlier last month, four young siblings lost their lives when a fire broke out as a result of a short circuit in their flat in Egypt’s southeastern Giza province.

A similar incident took place in June last year when six children were killed and 15 others injured in Cairo, also by a fire caused by a short circuit.

Six months later, three young siblings were killed when a two-storey building collapsed in the southern Beni Suef province.