Medical examiner blames smoke on beach house deaths

By: Associated Press | SCNow
Published: November 01, 2007

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OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. - Officials blame smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning for the deaths of seven college students from South Carolina who were killed in a fire last weekend.

North Carolina's chief medical examiner says there was no evidence of any other injuries suffered by the seven in the fire that ripped through the house where they were staying in Ocean Isle Beach (North Carolina).

Six of the victims were from the University of South Carolina and one was from Clemson. Six other USC students survived, including one who escaped the flames by jumping out a window into a

canal.

State investigators released the gutted house back to its owners, and insurance adjusters today fenced off the property, which has been deemed unsafe to enter.