Carbon monoxide poisoning, according to investigators, killed the three US marines who were discovered dead outside a petrol station in North Carolina.
Three marines were discovered unconscious inside a car that had been parked at a petrol station about 30 miles south of Camp Lejeune by sheriff’s deputies in North Carolina on Sunday morning.
Their deaths were “consistently due to carbon monoxide poisoning,” the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner stated on Wednesday.
The names of the three marines were given as Lance Corporal Tanner J. Kaltenberg, 19, Lance Corporal Merax C. Dockery, 23, and Lance Corporal Ivan R. Garcia, 23.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, at 8.30 p.m., the marines’ first missing persons complaint was made after Lance Corporal Dockery’s parents got concerned after he failed to return home to Oklahoma on a planned flight.
The three marines were discovered about 30 minutes later in a Speedway convenience store in Hampstead.
Burning gasoline, especially that from moving cars, releases carbon monoxide, a colourless, odourless gas.
The Centres for Disease Control estimate that 400 Americans die from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning each year. As a result of the gas, 14,000 more individuals are hospitalised.
The authorities refused to say if the marines’ poisoning was done on purpose or by accident.
Brigadier General Michael McWilliams expressed his condolences and sincere sympathies to the friends, family, and coworkers of Lance Cpls. Kaltenberg, Dockery, and Garcia.
The general declared, “Our focus is on providing the necessary resources and support to those impacted by their tragic loss as they navigate this incredibly trying time.”
Local North Carolina officials also expressed their sympathy.
Pender County Sheriff Alan Cutler expressed his sadness over the tragic and enduring deaths of the three young men, who had all rendered honourable service to their country. “Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and coworkers at this time,” the statement reads.