Twelve people have been found dead of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning at a ski resort in Georgia, police said on Monday.
The bodies of 11 foreigners and one Georgian were discovered on Saturday in a sleeping area above a restaurant at a ski resort in Gudauri, in the Caucasus Mountains, 120km north of the capital Tbilisi, AFP reported.
Those who died are understood to have been workers, not tourists. An Indian official in Georgia confirmed that 11 Indians were among the dead.
“Preliminary tests do not indicate any trace of violence on the bodies,” which were discovered on the second floor of a building housing an Indian food restaurant at the ski resort.
“An oil-powered generator was turned on after the building lost electricity” on Friday, police said.
The authorities have opened an investigation into the incident.
The identities of the victims were not immediately released. Georgia is a former Soviet republic, with its western part lying on the coast of the Black Sea and its north nestled in the Caucasus Mountains.
Georgia, along with Armenia and Azerbaijan, is one of the most popular holiday destinations for Gulf travellers, with direct flights from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, among other cities.