AN ABINGDON man suffocated while installing hospital equipment in New York, an inquest in Oxford heard yesterday.
Paul Ambrose, 25, of Welford Gardens, died when liquid nitrogen leaked from an MRI scanner he was installing at the New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Three other people were injured during the gas leak, which happened in September 2000 in a temporary building in the hospital grounds.
Coroner Dr Richard Whittington read a report from the US Department of Labor which said a colleague went to look for Mr Ambrose in the building when he could not be contacted by phone.
At 11.30am, two people entered the building but felt dizzy, before a third person took a deep breath and went in to find Mr Ambrose not breathing and without a pulse.
Firemen who removed Mr Ambrose's body found several nitrogen cylinders, including one which was completely empty.
A pathologist's report said Mr Ambrose had died of asphyxia.
Dr Peter Feenan, a colleague of Mr Ambrose's at GE Medical Systems, said nitrogen was used to cool magnets in the MRI scanner Mr Ambrose was installing.
Dr Whittington recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.
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