Question

Assertion (A): During the incidence of fires in the buildings more people die from suffocation than the actual burns.

Reason (R): Carbon monoxide is a highly toxic gas.

Options

• Both A and R are true, and R is the correct reason for A.

• Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct reason for A.

• A is true, and R is false.

• A is false, and R is true.

Answer 1

Both A and R are true, and R is the correct reason for A.

Explanation:

In building fires, most deaths are from smoke inhalation (suffocation) rather than from thermal burns because incomplete combustion produces carbon monoxide (and other toxic gases). Carbon monoxide binds strongly to hemoglobin and blocks oxygen delivery to tissues, causing unconsciousness and death even at low concentrations, so CO inhalation, not the burn itself, is the principal cause of fatality in many fires.