‘Cover-up’ row over boy’s toxic gas death
FIREFIGHTERS have accused the Government of covering up the death of a schoolboy killed by toxic poisoning when his home was flooded.
Crews who recovered the body of seven-year-old Zane Gbangbola have joined MPs and legal experts demanding an independent inquiry.
Coroner Richard Travers rejected evidence that Zane was poisoned by cyanide that seeped into the family home in Chertsey, Surrey, from a nearby former landfill site during storms in 2014.
Instead, he ruled Zane died after inhaling carbon monoxide gas from a petrol-powered pump hired by his parents to clear water from the basement.
His parents, who raised £70,000 to cover costs for the inquest after being denied legal aid, insist the pump was not in use and that the authorities have lied about the true cause of his death.
Lee Belsten, secretary of the Fire Brigades Union in Surrey, said: ‘Our firefighters detected hydrogen cyanide and our members believe that the coroner’s verdict was highly questionable.’
Mr Travers has been accused of failing to call key witnesses during the inquest in 2016 and of allowing evidence to be withheld. The inquest heard that fire crews recorded readings for hydrogen cyanide inside the house and first responders detected no petrol pump fumes.
Experts from the Government’s defence research centre at Porton Down sealed off the property for weeks. Doctors said the paralysis suffered by Zane’s father, Kye, was caused by hydrogen cyanide poisoning.
Mr Travers ruled Zane had died from a carbon monoxide level of 8 per cent in his blood and that the cyanide readings may have been oxides of nitrogen in exhaust fumes from fire engines. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Zane’s mother, Nicole, said: ‘We demand an independent inquiry to get to the truth.’