FBI: Death of the Georgian Prime Minister was an accident

Friday, April 1, 2005

The death of the Georgian Prime Minister, Surab Schwania, on 3 February 2005 was an accident, which was caused by a faulty gas heater in the home of a friend. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) came to this conclusion following investigations in the apartment in {[w|Tbilisi}} and in their laboratories in the USA.

Bryan Paarman, legal attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Georgia who also leads the FBI office in Tbilisi, released details of the official investigation report at the news conference, which states that the late Prime Minister Schwania died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The poison concentration in his blood at the time of death amounted to 72%. Likewise his friend, Raul Usupov, with whom he had been staying, had 74% carbon monoxide in his blood at death. No other drugs or poisons were found in the blood of the two men.

Carbon monoxide, said the FBI, leaked from a defective gas heater that had been installed improperly a few weeks before it caused the death of the Prime Minister and his friend. The FBI had it tested in the apartment and stated the heater in the apartment caused the level of oxygen in the air to decrease to 18.4%. Such small oxygen percentage is lethal, explained the FBI.

Sources

"FBI rules out murder as cause of M's death" — Rustavi 2, April 1, 2005
"FBI Confirms Georgian Officials Conclusions over Zhvania's Death" — Civil Georgia, April 1, 2005

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