Four children among tourists who ‘suffocated’ from hotel gas heater in Nepal

Group was found in their room with windows and doors closed

Bodies of the eight decesed were transported to a hospital in Kathmandu (AP)

Eight Indian tourists, including four children, were declared dead Tuesday after being found unconscious in their room at a mountain resort in Nepal, officials said.

Rescue helicopters flew the tourists to Kathmandu, where they were declared dead at a hospital in the capital, police official Hobindra Bogati said.

A doctor at the Hospital for Advanced Medicine and Surgery in Kathmandu, Kamal Thapa, said the four adults and four children showed no signs of life when they arrived at the hospital.

The eight tourists were part of a group of 15 who had travelled to Nepal from the Indian state of Kerala.

Mr Thapa said another member of the tour group claimed they had tried to wake the eight around 7:30am but found them unconscious.

The group reportedly turned on a gas heater inside the room while the windows and doors were closed. Police were investigating the case.

"They had lit a gas heater to keep the room warm and probably suffocated," said Mr Bogati.

The resort at Daman is popular with tourists for mountain views and snowfall during winter. It is about 35 miles west of Kathmandu.

The resort was fully booked so the eight tourists were sharing the same room.

Associated Press