Faulty gas geyser could have caused death of woman at a Sani Pass lodge, report shows

[schumi]

Durban - A Johannesburg family is facing the sad reality of spending Christmas without their beloved mother and daughter after a motorcycling trip through KwaZulu-Natal ended with her tragic death at a famous mountain lodge at the top of Sani Pass in Lesotho.
Sue Church, 40, was one of two bikers who collapsed in a shower in the rondavels at the Sani Mountain Lodge on September 22. A report by forensic investigator David Klatzow concluded that the cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning.


Lesotho Police Mokhotlong district commissioner Piti Khutlang said an inquest docket had been opened and police were waiting for a copy of the forensic report.


He said no foul play was suspected.


Rebekah Janse van Rensberg, 22, was one of 20 bikers who had planned to ride their motorbikes through KZN and up the pass with Church, but their plans were scuppered due to rainy weather.


Janse van Rensberg posted her concerns about the circumstances surrounding Church’s death on Facebook on December 11, complaining about the gas geyser installations and the way the lodge had handled the tragedy.


Janse van Rensberg said the bikers got a shuttle up to the lodge, where they planned to spend the night, starting with a shower.


She said she caught a whiff of gas before losing consciousness.

More at: https://www.iol.co.za/mercury/news/...an-at-a-sani-pass-lodge-report-shows-18605712

 

[Hemi300c]

Shame man RIP

 

[supersunbird]

It said the previous lodge owners’ had hired gas geyser installers who had not provided “some geysers with a flue to vent the products of combustion to the outside as required”.

Hope they get the hell sued out of them...

 

[Cray]

Saw this on Facebook from a post from the woman who collapsed but was revived- glad to see its getting some publicity and a response from the mountain lodge. They had previously been very quiet and even disabled reviews on their facebook page after people kept asking about the incident.

 

[ToxicBunny]

Yeah also saw something about this on Facebook... I think the lodge is possibly up shyte creek without a paddle on this one from a negligence point of view.

 

[Gordon_R]

Sounds like a tragic series of circumstances, and it is unfortunate to tarnish the name of a popular destination for actions taken by previous management. Of course the owners are still legally liable, and it seems they did the right thing by calling in Dr David Klatzow to investigate.

My guess is that the buildup may only have only occurred under particular wind direction, with everything closed up due to the rainy weather. Carbon monoxide is odourless and impossible to detect by smell.

The top of Sani Pass is a remote location (and across a national border), so it may have understandably been difficult to get a specialist technician to perform a compliance examination when they took over the lodge.

 

[Lew Skannen]

Saw this on Facebook from a post from the woman who collapsed but was revived- glad to see its getting some publicity and a response from the mountain lodge. They had previously been very quiet and even disabled reviews on their facebook page after people kept asking about the incident.

If this is the case, then they should be sued to such point where their business is liquidated. Knowing that people collapsed while taking showers, having clients asking questions about it and then having clients die is a major issue. If they knew about the problem and did nothing to fix it, then foul play should be suspected and investigated.

 

[ponder]

The top of Sani Pass is a remote location (and across a national border), so it may have understandably been difficult to get a specialist technician to perform a compliance examination when they took over the lodge.

I doubt a compliance certificate from sa would be valid but would provide piece of mind. Getting across the border is not difficult, people drive through those border posts without even getting their passports out, the lesotho border post is ~100m from the lodge. I suspect the company that installed the system is from sa/kzn as they would be closer to the lodge than any installer on the lesotho side, there's nothing beyond that lodge for a great distance.

EDIT:
Is the border on google maps accurate? Always thought the lodge is in lesotho but it appears to be in sa.

 

[Gordon_R]

If this is the case, then they should be sued to such point where their business is liquidated. Knowing that people collapsed while taking showers, having clients asking questions about it and then having clients die is a major issue. If they knew about the problem and did nothing to fix it, then foul play should be suspected and investigated.

People collapse and die for all kinds of reasons, and it is sometimes very difficult to determine the cause. The Listeria polony story is evidence of this. Hindsight is wonderful, and makes it easy to place blame.

Edit: Sani Pass is at an altitude of 2,876 m. Anyone driving up from the coast is likely to experience shortness of breath, which could mask other issues.

This example from Egypt received a huge amount of media coverage in the UK: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-45426644

High levels of E. coli have been found at the Egyptian hotel where two British tourists died, tests have revealed.

The independent food and hygiene tests were ordered by Thomas Cook at Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

John and Susan Cooper, from Burnley, died at the hotel on 21 August. The results of post-mortem examinations are not yet known.

 

[FoXtroT]

It is in Lesotho. The SA border is at the bottom of the pass and the Lesotho one at the top. You have to go through the Lesotho one before going to the lodge.

 

[Sinbad]

It is in Lesotho. The SA border is at the bottom of the pass and the Lesotho one at the top. You have to go through the Lesotho one before going to the lodge.

Actually it's on the SA side of the border

 

[ponder]

It is in Lesotho. The SA border is at the bottom of the pass and the Lesotho one at the top. You have to go through the Lesotho one before going to the lodge.

The border post is not the actual border line. Best I go claim that land between the two border posts seeing as it belongs to nobody.

 

[Cray]

Some photos from the original Facebook post...

https://www.facebook.com/bekahjanse/posts/10156856629975917

 

[Cray]

 

[Cray]

 

[Gordon_R]

Some photos from the original Facebook post...

View attachment 596342

Thanks for the image. Legally they must be outdoors, but there is a large gap between the top of the wall and the roof, unlike 'indoor' in a house where there is more limited circulation. That supports my earlier comment that weather conditions would be a factor, and why not everyone would be affected. That may explain why they got away with this installation for so long.

 

[Kelerei]

Is the border on google maps accurate? Always thought the lodge is in lesotho but it appears to be in sa.

View attachment 596262

The border through the Drakensberg follows the drainage divide between the Orange River basin and the various rivers flowing through Natal and the Transkei (the Tugela for everything north of Giant's Castle, and the Umkomaas for most, but not all, of the area south of that, including Sani Pass). From going up there myself in January 2015, I visually observed that the drainage divide appears to follow the escarpment edge in the Sani Pass area (which is true for most of the Drakensberg, but not all!), so that would therefore be where the border is -- putting Sani Top just within Lesotho. You'll notice in the satellite image above that Lesotho has paved the road right to the escarpment edge (which was in progress during my 2015 visit), and have not gone beyond that as that is South African territory.

In Google's defense, the border is unmarked and unfenced, and cannot be plotted accurately without detailed topographic data. The border depicted in the image above seems to be a fair approximation.

 

[Gordon_R]

The border through the Drakensberg follows the drainage divide between the Orange River basin and the various rivers flowing through Natal and the Transkei (the Tugela for everything north of Giant's Castle, and the Umkomaas for most, but not all, of the area south of that, including Sani Pass). From going up there myself in January 2015, I visually observed that the drainage divide appears to follow the escarpment edge in the Sani Pass area (which is true for most of the Drakensberg, but not all!), so that would therefore be where the border is -- putting Sani Top just within Lesotho. You'll notice in the satellite image above that Lesotho has paved the road right to the escarpment edge (which was in progress during my 2015 visit), and have not gone beyond that as that is South African territory.

In Google's defense, the border is unmarked and unfenced, and cannot be plotted accurately without detailed topographic data. The border depicted in the image above seems to be a fair approximation.

All true and very interesting points! Effectively the Lodge is in Lesotho, since it is physically impossible to access from the South African side (sheer vertical cliffs). Its like those disputes about who owns an island in the middle of a river.

Google Maps does have a terrain option, though the contour elevation lines are only shown at 20m intervals. Even at this scale it is obvious that the border and the escarpment are only mapped approximately, since the line does not exactly follow the highest points in the map: https://www.google.com/maps/@-29.5843587,29.2859919,15z/data=!5m1!1e4

 

[Kelerei]

Effectively the Lodge is in Lesotho, since it is physically impossible to access from the South African side (sheer vertical cliffs).

There's actually a small ramp between the cliffs right below the lodge (it's in the satellite photo) where one can do just that. Although tempting, I decided it not work risking the wrath of the border guards...

 

[Nobody Important]

Yoh that's sad.

I biked there from Durban many years ago and also spent a night at the same Sani Top Chalet. I didn't shower coz at that time they didn't have piped water, they collected snow/ice from the ground and melted it. I was too cold and impatient so skipped it. I also remember refusing the gas heater offered to me. Was too scared to use it in a closed room overnight.

The lodge was not the best experience tbh but I didn't mind as it was just for sleeping, the scenery and hiking is what I went for.

My point is that due to the location, they have to use gas a lot. But still, no excuse for unsafe installation.