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Two US nationals among 6 found dead at posh Bangkok hotel, cyanide poisoning suspected

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Two US nationals among 6 found dead at posh Bangkok hotel, cyanide poisoning suspected

Six people – three women and three men – were found dead Tuesday at an upscale hotel in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok under mysterious circumstances with authorities saying that they found traces of cyanide in the victims’ blood.

The deceased were identified as being of Vietnamese ethnicity between the ages of 37 and 56, with two identified as American dual nationals, Bangkok Police’s Lt. Gen. Thiti Sangsawang said at a press conference Tuesday. Police said the group checked into Bangkok’s Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel at separate times after arriving on Saturday and Sunday. Thai prime minister Srettha Thavisin, who was also at the conference, alongside other senior police officials, ordered a swift investigation on the matter.

Dead for over 20 hours

Police were alerted of the incident around 5:30 p.m. local time Tuesday after a hotel housekeeper entered the room when the group failed to check out. The room had been locked from inside and the police believe the group had been dead for over 20 hours when they were discovered. They were last seen alive around 2 p.m. the previous day when they entered the room.

Room service delivered food, tea and milk to the room just before 2 p.m., along with six tea cups and two thermoses. Police said that only one person was present in the room at the time, while the other five came in after the staff left. While much of the food was untouched, investigators found residue at the bottom of the six coffee cups. Five of the cups were found in the preparation area while one was found in the dining room, Sangsawang said, adding that evidence is being collected and will be investigated forensically.

Sangsawang said the deceased were found in the same hotel room, though they had checked into different rooms. There were no signs of fighting, violence or ransacking and none of the victims had any wound marks on them, Sangsawang said.

Cyanide found in blood

On Wednesday, the police said that cyanide poisoning was likely the cause of death and one of the dead believed to be the suspected killer. Addressing a news conference, the police said that cyanide was also found on drinking glasses and a water container.

“We can assume that the six died from cyanide,” Chulalongkorn Hospital’s Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin said at the press conference, as per Reuters, adding that the results of further tests would be available on Friday. The forensic medicine expert also said that there were no signs of physical violence on the bodies or trauma in any internal organs.

Dispute over debt

Interviews with relatives of the deceased pointed towards a dispute over debt related to an investment. Police said that the group was working together to build a hospital in Japan and that they were initially supposed to meet there to discuss plans. However, some group members were unable to travel to Japan due to visa issues, so they decided to meet in Bangkok instead.

Earlier, the police had said that the group also included a seventh person, who was part of the same hotel booking, but was not found in the rooms at the hotel. Bangkok’s deputy police chief Noppasin Poonsawat said the person was the younger sister of one of the Vietnamese nationals and police believe she was not involved in the death. She arrived in Thailand on July 4 but returned to Da Nang, Vietnam, on July 10.

No impact to tourism

Officials asserted that the incident will not impact any tourist activities and said that the incident was a personal matter and is not related to any criminal activities. The Grand Hyatt Erawan is located on a busy intersection in Bangkok’s city center, opposite the Erawan Shrine. The hotel did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for a comment on the incident.

A spokesperson of the U.S. State Department told Reuters they are “closely monitoring the situation and (we) stand ready to provide consular assistance.”

The embassies of Vietnam and the United States have been contacted over the deaths Thavisin said as per AP, and that the FBI is also en route to Bangkok to investigate the incident.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X @saman_shafiq7.

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