Traces of cyanide were discovered in the cups of six people who were found dead at a Bangkok hotel in unexplained circumstances, Thai police said Wednesday, adding that they may have been poisoned.
The six bodies were found Tuesday afternoon at the Grand Hyatt Erawan, an upscale hotel in the center of the Thai capital. Police said they found three men and three women between the ages of 37 and 56. All of them were of Vietnamese descent, two with U.S. citizenship and the others with Vietnamese citizenship, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said during a news conference Tuesday.
Lt. Gen. Trairong Piwpan, chief of the Thai police force’s forensic division, said Wednesday that traces of cyanide were identified in the people’s cups and in thermoses in their room, the Associated Press reported. Initial results of an autopsy are expected later Wednesday, he said.
The suspected poisoning may have been the result of a business-related dispute between the people, police said, according to the AP.
Citing interviews with the victims’ relatives, Bangkok Deputy Police Chief Noppasin Punsawat, said two of the people, a husband and wife, gave money to two of the others as an investment to build a hospital in Japan, according to the AP. Noppasin said the suspected poisoning could be tied to a dispute over the investment, the AP reported.
Photos released by police appeared to show the deceased lying on the ground, spread out in different parts of the hotel room. Food apparently ordered for six appeared to lay untouched and still wrapped under plastic film.
Noppasin said the case appeared to be personal and would not affect the safety of tourists, the AP reported. Thailand’s economy relies heavily on the tourism industry.
