Eight Indian tourists die in Nepal after lighting gas heater in hotel

Kathmandu (Reuters) – Eight Indian tourists including four children died of suspected suffocation in a hotel in Nepal on Tuesday, police said, after trying to keep warm by using a gas heater during the night.

The victims were staying in Daman, a hill resort south of Kathmandu which is known for its panoramic views of the Himalayas.

“They had lit a gas heater to keep the room warm and probably suffocated,” police official Hobindra Bogati told Reuters. Seven other tourists in the group were unharmed.

Tourism is a major source of revenue for Nepal’s economy, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs. Last year just over 1 million tourists visited the country, of which the biggest contingent – around a tenth – came from India.