Girl dies in tent 'poison' tragedy

West Mercia Police said a teenage girl has been found dead at a campsite
7 May 2012

A teenage girl has been killed and her parents and brother admitted to hospital with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning after a campsite tragedy thought to have been caused by a disposable barbecue.

Paramedics fought to save the girl after the family of four was discovered unconscious inside their tent at the Baron at Bucknell campsite in south Shropshire just before 10am. The owners of the site said a disposable barbecue used by the family, on the first evening of their bank holiday break, was in the porch of the tent.

West Mercia Police said the girl's death was being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. The force is investigating the incident alongside the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: "Crews arrived at the campsite to find CPR being carried out on a girl who was in cardiac arrest.

"Ambulance crews continued resuscitation efforts in an attempt to restart the girl's heart. Sadly, despite their best efforts nothing could be done to save the girl and she was confirmed dead on scene.

"A boy, believed to be 11 years old, was suffering from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning. Crews and the doctor began oxygen therapy and, due to his serious condition, the boy was airlifted to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital for emergency treatment. Paramedics continued to monitor the boy's condition on route to hospital.

"A woman and man were also given oxygen therapy by ambulance crews before being taken by land ambulance on blue lights to the same hospital for further treatment."

Phil and Debra Wright, who own the Baron at Bucknell pub and its adjacent campsite, said the family was part of a larger group made up of the mother's two sisters and their respective partners and children, staying in a number of tents on the site.

Mr Wright said the group had become concerned when nobody in the family's tent awoke. He said: "They had gone into the tent and found them all unconscious. One of the sisters came and said, 'We need an ambulance urgently'.

"There was a disposable barbecue which they had used the night before in the porch of the tent. The emergency services were on the scene within five minutes. They worked on the girl for some time but they couldn't save her."

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