Six people were found dead in a luxury hotel in Bangkok on Tuesday, July 16, after which it was suspected that they might have died of poisoning.
Bangkok police chief Lt. Gen. Thiti Sangsawang said the victims were identified as two Vietnamese Americans and four Vietnamese nationals. Their bodies were found foaming at the mouth.
A case of poisoning
Today, the Thailand police said that the likely cause of the death of the six foreigners is cyanide poisoning. One of the dead at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel is the suspected killer.
At a news conference, police revealed that cyanide had been discovered on drinking glasses and in a water container. Interviews with the relatives of the deceased uncovered a dispute over debt.
Earlier, it was revealed that the victims had booked rooms at the hotel under seven names and some of them were staying on a different floor from the room where they were found dead. The police are still on the lookout for the seventh person, Thiti said.
He stated that there were no signs of a struggle. The occupants of the room where the bodies were found were scheduled to check out earlier on Tuesday, and their luggage had already been packed. A maid discovered the bodies when she went to the room after they failed to check out and found it locked from the inside.
Thiti noted that room service food ordered earlier had been left uneaten, while drinks had been consumed. He mentioned that the deaths seemed to have occurred approximately 24 hours before police arrived on Tuesday evening, following a call from hotel staff.
(With Reuters and AP inputs)