Eideard

Three members of a Ukrainian family have died from carbon monoxide poisoning after an attempt to exterminate rats in their basement using a car’s exhaust fumes.

A couple in their 70s and their granddaughter died in the incident, while another granddaughter is said to have been lucky to survive, Pravda reports.

The three were found dead in the basement of their home in Dnepropetrovsk, on the Dnieper River in the east of the country. It transpired that the grandfather, 71, had attached a hosepipe to his ZAZ Zaporozhets car’s exhaust pipe and put the other end through the window of the family basement, and started the engine.

After retiring upstairs for some time, he came downstairs to see whether any rats had died. However, the concentration of carbon monoxide in the basement’s atmosphere caused him to lose consciousness.

When he failed to return, his wife, 77, followed him to see what had happened, and also fainted. The same later happened with their 29-year-old granddaughter.

The three bodies were found when a second granddaughter went to investigate. Authorities said she was herself lucky to survive.

I suppose the only one who deserves – and gets – the Darwin award is grampa. Does he get extra credit for taking out a couple of innocent bystanders?