Man who inhaled CO2 in Los Angeles airport accident dies

LOS ANGELES (AP) — One of four workers who inhaled carbon dioxide in an accident at Los Angeles International Airport has died, his family said.

Cris Abraham, 36, of Lomita died on Nov. 11 at a hospital where he’d been in a medically induced coma, his sister-in-law Tamara Plouffe said on a GoFundMe page.

“The entire family has been devastated by his loss,” she wrote.

The CO2 was released on Oct. 31 in a utility room near a Terminal 8 baggage area, authorities said.

Abraham, a pipefitter, was one of four independent contractors working in the utility room. He was fixing a leaky pipe when a fire suppression system malfunctioned and spewed carbon dioxide, authorities said.

“The carbon dioxide displaces the oxygen in the individual’s bloodstream and they went into cardiac arrest,” fire Capt. Erik Scott said at the time.

Two men and a woman managed to quickly leave the room and were treated at the scene for minor complaints.

Abraham suffered repeated seizures at the hospital and was placed in a medical coma, his family told KTLA-TV.

He leaves behind a wife and two children.