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Eighteen people have died in Uzbekistan after breathing carbon monoxide from gas boilers that were written off for disposal in Germany, illegally imported, crudely refurbished and sold to households as new equipment, the country’s Ministry of Emergency Situations has warned.
The deaths occurred in three separate incidents within a week. On 25 October, seven members of a single family were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning in the Fergana district; six more people died the same day in Tashkent. On 1 November, five people died in Kokand. Ministry specialists linked all three tragedies to violations of safety requirements in the installation and use of gas heating equipment.
How the Scheme Worked
The boilers involved are dual-circuit Vaillant units that had been decommissioned in Germany and designated for recycling. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, they were smuggled into Uzbekistan under the guise of spare parts. Unscrupulous individuals then reassembled them by hand and sold them to the public as new appliances.
A critical safety flaw accompanied every sale: the boilers were supplied without their original flue systems, which are an integral part of the design. In their place, installers fitted polyethylene sewage pipes — materials never intended to withstand high temperatures. When heated, such pipes lose rigidity and can fall from their fittings, leaving combustion gases with no safe exit route.
A second hazard compounded the first. Some households blocked the boilers’ air-intake pipes with cloth or fabric, apparently to reduce draughts. Starved of sufficient oxygen, natural gas burns incompletely, generating elevated concentrations of carbon monoxide — a colourless, odourless gas that is lethal in enclosed spaces.
Ministry Warning and Advice to Residents
The ministry has urged citizens to stop using old, unfit Vaillant boilers immediately and to contact qualified specialists to inspect any installed equipment without delay. When purchasing or fitting heating appliances, residents are advised to verify quality certificates and operating instructions, confirm that safety requirements are met, and establish that the equipment is fit for use before installation.
The warning comes as Uzbekistan enters the heating season, when demand for affordable boilers rises sharply and the risk of substandard equipment reaching households is at its highest.