Beko Criticised Over Deaths

Beko is back in the limelight this week over deaths allegedly caused by certain models of fridge freezers and cookers after an investigation by The Sunday Times, with one legal action for one and a half million pounds in the works.

The report in the Mirror claims that the appliances are alleged to have caused at least eleven deaths and that Beko failed to warn owners of some Beko fridge freezer models could catch fire and Beko cooker models could cause carbon monoxide poisoning. The former despite a warning being issued to Beko by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) on the risk of fires in models of fridge freezer Which the LFB contend led to more deaths.

Beko is now reported to have received a "letter before action" indicating that the company is facing imminent legal action for £1.5 million by Jennifer Benjamin. Mrs Benjamin's husband, Santosh, sadly lost his life in a fire believed to have been caused by a defective Beko fridge freezer some five months after Beko was warned of the issue by the LFB.

A few days ago it has apparently come to light that Beko was also warned of the risk from models of Beko cookers as early as 2008 but Beko didn't issue a recall notice fast enough.

Beko managing director Ragip Balcioglu said: “We will not rest until we have done everything in our power to track down any potentially affected products where an issue has been identified.”

Meanwhile Which? also highlights a recall on Beko tumble dryers for a fire risk.

Beko told Which? in a statement that, 'We strongly rejects any accusations that we have not acted as timely or comprehensively as possible. Beko has always acted in accordance with regulatory guidance, co-operated with all relevant authorities and abided by all accepted standards of industry practice. Beko has mobilised every resource at its disposal to rectify and raise awareness of the issues.'