Second boy improving after carbon monoxide poisoning

A day after the death of a 9-year-old boy who suffered carbon monoxide poisoning while four-wheeling with his father and friends in Lunenburg, a second boy injured in the tragedy is showing signs of improvement, according to police.

Eleven-year-old Jobanny Matias of Leominster was upgraded from critical to stable condition today at Massachusetts General Hospital, according to Lunenburg Police Chief Daniel Bourgeois.

"We have just been notified that the second boy's condition is now stable,'' said Bourgeois. He said the investigation into what appears to have been a tragic accident is continuing.

Nine-year-old Alejandro Thomasian of Fitchburg died yesterday. An autopsy conducted today by the state medical examiner's office confirmed carbon monoxide poisoning as the cause of death.

The boys went four-wheeling Friday night with their fathers and another man in a wooded area behind a Lunenburg auto body repair shop when one of the three vehicles they were using, a Jeep Cherokee, became stuck in the mud. The boys were overcome by carbon monoxide as they sat in the back seat of the idling Jeep while the men were working to free it from the mud, according to Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early. The Jeep's exhaust pipe was apparently blocked by mud, causing the toxic fumes to fill the car, according to officials.

When the adults discovered the boys were unconscious they rushed them to a nearby auto body shop, where they were met by emergency personnel who worked to save the boys, officials said.

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