Police officers stand outside the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday after several bodies were found at the luxury hotel in central Bangkok on Tuesday, apparently from poisoning, police said.
Chatukra Samnaingjam/AP
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Chatukra Samnaingjam/AP
BANGKOK — Six people were found dead at a luxury hotel in central Bangkok on Tuesday and the cause of death appears to be poisoning, police and authorities said.
Bangkok police chief Lt. Gen. Thithi Sansavanh identified the dead as two Vietnamese Americans and four Vietnamese nationals — three men and three women. Investigators found the bodies foaming at the mouth, said a police officer at Lumpini police station, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information.
The victims had booked rooms at the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel under seven different names, some of whom were staying on a different floor from the room where the bodies were found, Mr. Titi said. Police were still searching for the seventh person on the bookings, Mr. Titi said at a news conference at the hotel.
He said there were no signs of a struggle.The occupant of the room where the body was found was due to check out early Tuesday and had already packed his belongings.After they forgot to check out, a maid rushed to the room and found it locked from the inside, which is where she discovered the body, Titi said.
Mr Titi said food ordered from room service was left uneaten but drinks were consumed. He did not give a cause of death but said the death appeared to have occurred about 24 hours before police arrived at the scene on Tuesday evening after being called by hotel staff.
Prime Minister Suretta Tavishin visited the hotel in the evening and told reporters that the incident was not a robbery or a random assault and would not affect Thailand’s lucrative tourism industry.
Pending autopsy results, “our hypothesis is that they ingested something and died,” Sreta said.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said U.S. officials were aware of reports that two Americans had been killed in Bangkok.
“We offer our deepest condolences to the family. We are closely monitoring the situation and stand ready to provide consular assistance to the family,” he told reporters in Washington.
