(Bloomberg) -- Six Brazilian tourists died Wednesday in downtown Santiago from a carbon monoxide leak in an apartment they rented through Airbnb, worsening an already tense relationship between the San Francisco-based rental platform, local hotels and other residents.
The company said it is providing support to the families of the deceased and security of guests and hosts is the company’s priority. Negative incidents are "extremely rare", and Airbnb notifies guests when their rental properties don’t have smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, the company said in an emailed statement.
Chile’s Supreme Court ruled in August that building administrators can impose fines on apartment owners that rent their properties on the platform, a ruling that was celebrated by the country’s hotels association. In 2017, the internal revenue service investigated Airbnb listings for the alleged evasion of income and -added tax. Chile’s proposed tax reform, which is in debate in congress, contemplates a digital economy tax which would collect tax revenue on online platforms like Airbnb.
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