Women killed by fumes from gas cooker
Friends and neighbours Annie ‘Nana’ Gallagher, 84, and Sarah ‘Sally’ McDyer, 79, were found dead at Ms Gallagher’s home in Glenties, Co Donegal, on September 24, 2009.
The joint inquest into the deaths was held in Letterkenny yesterday before coroner Dr Denis McCauley.
Pathologist Dr Gerry O’Dowd carried out autopsies on the women. He told the court both had died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Much of the inquest dealt with claims surrounding allegations the Flavel cooker, manufactured by Beko, and which allegedly emitted the gas fumes, was faulty. There have been up to six deaths in Ireland and England connected to similar cookers.
A fire investigation consultant, Stephen Hammond, went to the scene of the Donegal tragedy and carried out tests on behalf of the Commission for Energy Regulation. By turning on the cooker with the grill door opened and closed, he found the level of gas emitted exceeded European standards.
Independent investigators Burgoynes undertook an investigation into models of cookers made by Beko and distributed by Glen Dimplex between 2006 and 2008 to determine if they might be faulty.
This followed the death of a 21-year-old French student, Alexis Laundry, in Macroom, Co Cork, on November 8, 2008, which involved a similar cooker.
In total, it was estimated that there were 5,375 cookers involved.
Solicitor for the families of the dead women, Frank Dorrian, said it was not until the Donegal tragedy that the National Consumer Agency stepped up its efforts for the recall of the cookers.
Beko barrister Peter Nolan said his client took the lead in trying to contact all cooker owners before the tragedies in Co Donegal.
John Shine from the National Consumer Agency said that 1,300 of the cookers were still unaccounted for in Ireland, but he did not know how many were still in use.
The inquest continues today.
