LOS ANGELES — A man who worked in an electrical room at Los Angeles International Airport when he and three co-workers were exposed to carbon dioxide fumes in October has died in a hospital, his family said.
Cris Abraham, 36, died on Friday, his family said in a statement posted on a GoFundMe page created following the Oct. 31 incident.
“Unfortunately, due to his injuries, Cris passed away early Friday morning, 11-11-22,” the statement read. “The whole family was devastated by his loss. Your continued support is appreciated as the family adjusts to life without Cris. Please keep Tiffany and the children in your thoughts and prayers.
The page had generated more than $34,000 in donations as of Tuesday morning.
Related: UCLA graduate dies of carbon monoxide poisoning in Guadalajara Airbnb
At around 7 a.m. on October 31, Abraham and three coworkers were sickened by carbon dioxide that was released from a fire suppression system in an electrical service room about 200 feet from Terminal 8, causing an evacuation of the terminal and affecting some inbound flights.
Los Angeles Fire Department officials said the carbon dioxide was released as part of an activated fire suppression system in the electrical room in which the four independent contractors worked.
Three of these workers managed to escape from the room, but Abraham was overwhelmed by the fumes.
“Finding the injured worker unresponsive and determining that there were no other people in danger, the firefighter and firefighter/paramedic carried the man across the room and down a small flight of stairs to the safer, oxygen-rich environment of the hallway, where they quickly confirmed him to be pulseless and unbreathing,” the LAFD reported.
“With timely and skilled hands-on assistance from the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Airport Police officers assisting them with CPR, the LAFD paramedic team, soon joined by other responders of the LAFD, immediately began advanced life support measures at the scene and while the man was transported by ambulance to an area hospital, where he arrived in critical condition, although his pulse and spontaneous breathing were recovered,” the LAFD reported.
The other three workers were medically assessed by paramedics and declined further treatment or ambulance transport, the LAFD reported.
Abraham was hospitalized in a medically induced coma, his family said.
Officials have notified Cal/OSHA of a formal investigation into the incident, the LAFD reported.
Comments are closed.