4 Syrians die after burning coal for heat in south Lebanon

By SARAH EL DEEB
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — An official in a Lebanese rescue group says a mother and her three children died in their sleep after inhaling toxic fumes from burning coal to warm their room in a village in southern Lebanon. The official says he transported the bodies to be buried from a hospital where they were pronounced dead. A hospital official said the 31-year-old mother and her kids ages 8, 7 and 4 died of asphyxiation. Lebanon, a country of 6 million people, is home to 1.5 million Syrians who fled the now decade-old civil war in their country. The United Nations estimates that 90% of Syrian refugee households live in extreme poverty.