Carbon monoxide poisoning suspected in deaths of three people in Gunning water tank
Updated
Carbon monoxide poisoning is suspected as the cause of death for three family members found dead at the bottom of a concrete water tank in the Southern Tablelands of NSW.
Andrew, Anne and Richard Basnett all died after they each entered the tank late Thursday afternoon.
Police said a 69-year-old man was using a high-pressure water pump to clean inside the tank Thursday evening on his property in Gunning, near Yass, when he collapsed.
The man's brother, 68, and the man's wife, 63, jumped into the tank to try to help but also collapsed.
A neighbour who heard the woman's cries for help found the three bodies and called emergency services.
NSW Police Superintendent Andrew Koutsoufis said the deaths appeared to be a tragic accident.
"There were high levels of poisonous gas in the water tank by the time police got there," he said.
"A petrol [water] pump being used to clean the tank ... may have been the cause of the build up of fumes at the bottom of the tank."
Superintendent Koutsoufis said post-mortem examinations would be needed to confirm the cause of death.
"Carbon monoxide poisoning is a line of inquiry we are following," he said.
"It's devastating for a small community like Gunning. A lot of people are hurting right now."
Communities in 'state of shock' after death of passionate couple
Friends of Andrew and Anne Basnett said the communities of Yass and Gunning were trying to understand and come to terms with the loss.
Richard, Andrew's brother, was visiting from elsewhere when the accident happened.
"Two wonderful people who were full of fun and laughter and life and passionate about their family and their communities, and their children," said Yass Mayor Rowena Abbey.
"This is a big hole in everyone's lives."
Ms Abbey said both communities were in a state of shock and that it was an extraordinarily sad day for their friends.
"[They were..] passionate friends, passionate about the rural industry and their farm and exceedingly passionate about their children and their grandchildren," Ms Abbey said.
"I think of them and I think full of the joys of life, is how I would describe them."
The couple had lived in the are since the early 1980s.
Topics: death, community-and-society, gunning-2581, nsw, canberra-2600, act
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