Deadly heaters not recalled

Rinnai Corp. did not recall gas water heaters involved in fatal accidents even though it knew they had a structural defect, company sources said Saturday.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2007/nn20070211a1a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='188'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Rinnai Corp. President Hiroyasu Naito –

and other officials bow at the start of a news conference in the company's headquarters early Saturday. KYODO PHOTO

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced Friday that Rinnai's RUS-5RX and RUS-51BT models have caused five cases of carbon monoxide poisoning since 2000, killing three people and sickening 12 others. Ventilation is needed for these models because they release exhaust gas into rooms.