An autopsy case of suicide by acetylene explosion: a case report

We report an autopsy case of a male welder in his thirties who was found dead in an exploded truck cabin. The roof, windows and doors of the cabin had been blown up to 50 metres away. An oxygen cylinder and an acetylene cylinder, both unexploded, were found in the back of the truck. The deceased was lying on the driver's seat. His entire body was burnt, carbonised and partially skeletonised. There was a small amount of soot in his oesophagus and stomach and a large volume of bloody fluid in the trachea and bronchi. There was an extensive haemorrhage in the posterior thoracic wall. No drugs were detected in the blood. Hardly any carbon monoxide and combustion-related gases were detected in the blood, therefore he was not considered to have died from the fire. Acetylene was detected in his blood (21.5 microg/ml in the femoral vein blood) and urine (7.49 microg/ml), with marked haemorrhaging in his back. We therefore concluded that the victim died because of an acetylene explosion in the cabin and also that this was a suicide.