Cyanide poisoning kills 6 foreigners at Thailand hotel, local authorities say – National
Cyanide poisoning The attack left six foreigners dead whose bodies were found in a room at a luxury Bangkok hotel, Thai authorities said Wednesday, with the suspected killer among the dead.
Traces of the deadly, fast-acting chemical were found in autopsies of the bodies and on drinking glasses and a teapot in the room at the luxury Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel where the dead were found Tuesday night, police and a hospital said.
Interviews with relatives of the three women and three men who died revealed there had been a dispute over a debt linked to an investment, according to police, who said they were investigating how the cyanide was obtained.
The six suspects were all of Vietnamese origin, including two American nationals. Police said the FBI was involved in the investigation.
“We can assume that the six people died because of cyanide,” Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin of Chulalongkorn Hospital told reporters, adding that further test results would be available on Friday.
The U.S. State Department said it was monitoring the situation and that local authorities were leading the investigation.
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Vietnam’s foreign ministry confirmed that four of the dead were Vietnamese nationals and its embassy in Thailand was working closely with authorities.
People walk past a hotel where a number of people were found dead in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, July 16, 2024.
AP Photo/Napat Kongsawad
“We hope that the families of the victims will soon overcome this great loss,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang said.
The Grand Hyatt Erawan, operated by Erawan Group ERW.BK, has more than 350 rooms and is located in a popular tourist area known for its luxury shopping and restaurants.
News of the deaths, initially reported by some Thai media as a shooting, could be a setback for Thailand, which is banking heavily on its vital tourism sector to revive an economy that has struggled since the pandemic.
The government was eager to get to the bottom of what happened quickly, fearing bad publicity could impact a sector expecting 35 million foreign visitors this year and tens of billions of dollars in spending.
Trirong Phiwpan, commander of the Thai police evidence bureau, said the investigation indicated that drinks in the hotel room had been spiked with cyanide by one of the deceased.
“After the staff brought teacups and two hot water bottles, milk and teapots… one of the six brought in cyanide.”
