Harbin Apartment Tragedy: Coal Gas Leak Kills Three Family Members Inside Home, Investigation Begins

Harbin, China— Three members of a family were found dead inside their apartment Saturday after coal gas seeped through their home and poisoned them as they slept.

Neighbors called emergency services around 9:15 a.m. after noticing a strong odor and no movement from the unit on the third floor of an older residential block in Daowai District. Firefighters forced entry. No one was breathing.

Police identified the victims as a couple in their early 60s and their adult son, 34. All three were in bedrooms. A coal-burning stove used for heating was still smoldering in the living room. The flue was blocked.

Carbon monoxide is odorless. It kills fast. In Harbin, coal remains common for winter heating in older buildings where central heating is patchy. That combination turns deadly each year.

District emergency management officials said the apartment windows had been sealed with plastic sheeting for winter, cutting off ventilation. A preliminary reading inside the apartment showed carbon monoxide levels more than 20 times the safe limit.

“The family had closed every gap to keep the heat in,” a community worker said. “That is what trapped the gas inside. There was no alarm in the apartment.”

The property management company said the building, constructed in the 1990s, had not been retrofitted with gas detectors. Residents said they had complained about aging chimneys last winter. City inspectors sealed off the unit and ordered checks on 40 neighboring apartments.

China Daily noted Harbin’s heating season started two weeks early this year due to a cold snap. Hospitals reported a spike in carbon monoxide cases. Officials issued a notice urging residents to check flues and install detectors.

Prosecutors said a safety review is underway. No foul play is suspected. The bodies were taken for autopsy.

The apartment remains locked as investigators document the stove installation and chimney route.