Four people nearly killed by toxic gas in Gaza hospital

Four patients in a Gaza hospital were nearly killed by carbon dioxide happened to be in a nitrous oxide canister, bought from Israel.
Gaza minister of health Mufeed Mukhallalati already confirmed the incident and described it as an “unprecedented case which almost killed several patients at the hospital’s main operation room.”

The official told that anesthesiologists at al-Shifa Hospital noticed the patients’ reaction to the anesthetic gas was dangerous. They were on the verge of death, but the medics managed to save their lives.

A special committee set up to investigate the incident showed the gas in the canister used for anesthetization was carbon monoxide, which is toxic to human beings, instead of nitrous oxide.

According to al-Mukhallalati, it is not allowed to produce nitrous dioxide in Gaza. Besides, hospitals there are not allowed to import the gas from any other country except Israel.

They have reported the incident to the Red Cross and the World Health Organization, al-Mukhallalati said.