A family of three has died of carbon monoxide poisoning in Turushbogh village, which is subordinate to the city of Hisor, amid electricity shortages. 

Emergency officials say the tragedy took place on the night of March 4-5.

The 60-year-old father, the 54-year-old mother and their 15-year-old daughter died of carbon monoxide poisoning while heating their home with wood and coal amid electricity shortage in the country, especially in rural areas.  

It is already the second such an incident officially registered in the country over the past week.  

Recall, six members of one family, including four children 11, 9, 8 and 6 years old, died of carbon monoxide poisoning in Dushanbe on the night of February 27-28, while heating their home with a coal-powered stove.

The Emergencies Committee under the Government of Tajikistan said the tragedy had occurred in a private home in Dushanbe’s Firdavsi district (28/1 Gravzavod). 

The deceased father of the family was 38 years old, the mother was 37 years old and the children were 11, 9, 8 and 6 years old.

The family was found by neighbors who reported to the relevant authorities.  The couple and their four children were buried on February 28.

Burning coal inside the home for the purposes of heating or cooking produces particulate and gas emissions that may contain a number of harmful chemicals, such as benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Dushanbe residents have complained about electricity outages in recent days.  The outages were reportedly imposed due to a decrease in the water levels of rivers feeding into the Nurek hydropower plant, causing a reduction in energy output.

Meanwhile, rural areas of the country accept lengthy power outages as a routine.

Measures rationing electricity supplies are usually introduced in all regions except Dushanbe, the GBAO and regional administrative centers and they seek to curb the country's rising electricity consumption.  The rationing results in the supply of daily electrical power being reduced to 10 or 12 hours.  In addition to curbing rising consumption, the move also stems from a decline in the water level in the country's reservoirs powering the main hydroelectric power plants.

This time, residential customers in rural areas of the country have endured blackouts from 8 am to 5 pm and then from 10 pm to 5 am since September 26, 2023.