One man dead after event at go-kart track

From the Süddeutsche Zeitung online:

One man died and 48 other visitors of an indoor go-kart track suffered poisoning by carbon-monoxide on Sunday (13 May 2007).

After a company event with several go-kart races a 26-yr-old man returned home complaining of nausea and dizziness, his brother found him unconscious soon afterwards. Paramedics called to the scene could not save his life.

Meanwhile, other guests of the event had begun turning up in various hospital emergency rooms. The police procured a list of the participants and tried to get in touch with them, public announcements were broadcast on various radio stations. 39 of the participants showed no symptoms, 17 others consulted their doctors.

The carts are powered with propane gas and equipped with catalytic converters. The track remains closed pending investigations.

Wow, that's crazy. I think what's really scary is I, like a lot of people I think, assumed that simply leaving the area alive means you will survive such poisoning. I always thought CO-poisoning only kills you if you stay 'there' (ie. the car in the garage)

Not so

Blimey, something to be said for sticking with the outdoor one at Garching.

One of my mates was at Kartpalast a few weeks ago, wonder which one it was?

Driving lots of cars indoors never seemed like a very sensible thing to to, converters or no converters...

I'm at the level of hypochondria that makes me rush outside as fast as possible when I'm taking the bike out of the garage and someone is getting his car out at the same time.

according to the Munich Plod Site (item 766) it was the one in Westend (is it Hansastr.?)

That is indeed crazy. Ironically it is now very hard to kill yourself with car fumes 'cos the catalytic converters remove 99% according to the wiki article.

But propane is well known for producing CO, so you would "think" that they would have pretty serious CO monitoring at an indoor kart track running this stuff?

Yep, that's Kartpalast in Hansastr.

I was just about to post this. Just heard on the news that quite a few people have been treated for CO poisoning. If you have been there recently, get yourself checked out ASAP. CO sticks to blood cells forever (without treatment) and exclude O2 molecules at a ratio of 1:2 (even 1:3) and there are only 4 spots per heme (blood cell) for O2 binding.

Bloody hell, i didn't realise that it was that serious and certainly didn't think that it would stay with you forever.

Not you, the blood cells. They turnover about every 4-6 weeks. If you haven't been there in the past few weeks and you are not dead, then you will probably be ok. I would still go get checked out if I had been there in the past 3-4 weeks though. Especially if I was feeling tired of late and had a rosy red complexion since.

Forever = until the blood cells die and get extracted from the system.

Only diamonds are forever.

Edit: EV beat me to it.

I must say, the last time I was at this place, I got a bit of a headache due to the fumes inside there..

That's just around the corner from my apartment. Scary stuff.


That'll probably have a knock on effect on the business done by the local prossie population.

Or maybe they can suck the CO out of you...like snake poison, oder

Wow just found out there is a karting ring near my soon to be apartment! Yippy

Not so good that it will poison me!


Maybe I should give them a call and offer to fit them an alarm!

I was in the store room today at work and it backs onto a Digger rental place and they must have had all the machines running as the fumes were leaking through the bad masonry work, I felt high as a kite, also thinking that since I have been in the open air since that I was cured! I think the landlord will get a call tomorrow!

The ventilation system at Kart-Palast is checked regularly by the TÜV and has never posed problems. The CO-level in the dead man's blood was slightly higher than normal but not in any way spectacular, of course the meds are looking for other causes/prior damage. The owner is devastated, he could hardly speak coherently on the radio yesterday. All of the carts had been newly fitted with converters, and that is the one point where I would hesitate and take a closer look: Make sure that they were appropriate for the motors and fuel employed. Or maybe I watch too much CSI.
Besides, go-karting is an outdoor thing anyway.

I was pretty shocked when I read this yesterday. I've been there quite a few times and never noticed any bad air (would you even notice anything though?).
Still the outdoor track at garching is a hell of a lot more fun

The main problem here is lack of regulation. There are no regulations in Germany for CO levels in public places nor a requirement to monitor them - any measures implemented are voluntary. The CO could have come from the engines or from other sources such as the heating plant. As CO is heavier than air and odourless the kart drivers, low on the ground for long periods are particularly susceptible to unwitting exposure if higher levels are present. Folks with dicky hearts or circulation issues are particularly susceptible to CO poisoning. Indoor karting arenas are often converted halls such as warehouses, where little or no consideration was originally given to ventilation or monitoring so any that is there is almost certainly an afterthought. It all adds up to problems waiting to happen.

Indeed. Same thing happened in Scotland in 1999 if you google, and it is WELL KNOWN that propane is a source of CO. Sounds like other places have CO monitors?

My guess is that maybe they have had an issue for a few weeks/months etc and other people will come out of the woodwork saying they have felt dreadful after karting at that place,
and the bloke that pegged it will be found to have a dicky heart ('cos they already said his levels were NOT that high).

JE that is exactly what I heard on the radio about an hour ago. His CO level was high but not dangerously so for a normal person so they are saying he most likely had a heart condition.

More from the Süddeutsche Zeitung:


The radio announcements on Sunday reached a total of 104 people, 48 of whom showed symptoms of CO-poisoning but not serious enough for hospitalization. The Kart-Palast’s owner has asked the TÜV to check the ventilation system again, the forensic doctors are still trying to find the cause of death.

An autopsy has revealed that the person in question did NOT die from a CO poisoning (see Spiegel online article if you can read German). The go-kart track will be opened again on Friday

Spiegel article

The TÜV gave the ventilation a certificate of good health, the local authorities will measure its efficiency again before the track is re-opened. I wonder if this guy maybe strained his neck or pinched a nerve and cut off the circulation enough to pass out and die or encountered some other freak accident. I do feel sorry for his family not knowing what happened.

Correction then. 48 of whom showed symptoms of mass hysteria?

Oh well, if no-one needed hospitalization that's all right then. Panic over everyone.

To be fair if you ask 100 random Germans "Do you have any feelings of illness? Any nausea? Headaches? Tiredeness? " I would have expected a higher than 48% confirmation rate anyway.

I would expect hope the doctors used one of the tests available for these circumstances.

Why? Maybe he had a terminal disease, and his family are celebrating his swift demise and lack of suffering...

I think you'd struggle to find 100 Germans without a "Kreislauf" problem in the first place and therefore unable to answer the question without referring you to their doctor...

I suppose the family, or the dead man's doctor with their consent, would have come up with that information by now. Or are they trying to blame the go-kart track owner and get US-American sized compensation?


Excessive smoking (first and second hand) can induce symptoms of CO-poisoning, if I understand some statements in the articles correctly.

Not here in the UK with the crap crazy weather! Even more reason to move!

Don't move to Munich for the weather - most of England has less rainfall and fewer wet days per year than here, especially in summer.

Must just be Yorkshire! No don’t mind the rain, however they tend to build karting rings indoors here for the weather I only know of a few outdoor ones, which wont let you race in the wet.

I aint fussed I drive with the roof down in the snow! My bro had a 206CC and must have had the roof off 5 times in the 3 years he had it as his boot was full of junk and I always took mine off when he was in the car come sunshine, rain, sleet, or snow!

And more to the point if the other half learnt that I was moving for the weather and not her I would be sleeping on the sofa for the next year or two!

According to Bayern3 radio the guy was diabetic (not exactly a life-threatening disease per se) and overweight. Possibly these factors together with the strain* of driving a go-kart for an hour or more contributed to his death but the doctors still have not found its direct cause.
*As I turned the radio on a Formula I expert was saying that driving a cart for half an hour can be as strenuous as driving a Formula I racing car, what with the centrifugal force, non-power steering and lack of suspension.

Right. So fat diabetic bloke goes for strenuous exercise and drops dead.

Doctors now baffled by mystery case?


It is the 6th leading cause of death in the USA.

You're meaning diabetes? Got a link? This could be important to my family.

http://www.stanford.edu/group/usvh/stanfor...iabetes%203.pdf

The track is now open again, the authorities are closely monitoring it. I suppose this will be listed as Death by Misadventure but the track will always bear a stain. The increased CO-levels in the other visitors' blood may have consequences for the owner as well.

I got my racing gear ready. Anyone else wanna come?

Funny that he turns out to be overweight and diabetic -- originally they kept saying he was young and fit and sporty, going jogging several times a week, etc...

Well to be fair he COULD be all those things together. Young, fit, sporty AND overweight and diabetic. Some of the world's top sportsmen (e.g. Steve Redgrave) are diabetic. Also you can be technically overweight without being obese.

Seems we have a theme of health today, JE. And you are, again, absolutely right. I also am sporty as well as overweight (those of you who know me, don't laugh, it's true!)