BANGKOK, July 18 (Reuters) – Cyanide poisoning caused the deaths of six foreigners whose bodies were found in a room in a plush Bangkok hotel, Thai authorities said on Wednesday, with the suspected killer among the dead.
Traces of the rapid-acting, deadly chemical were found during 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 discovered late on Tuesday, according to police and a hospital.
Interviews with relatives of the three women and three men who died revealed there had been a dispute over debt related to an investment, according to police, who said they were investigating how the cyanide was obtained.
The six were all of Vietnamese ethnicity, two of those U.S. nationals. Police said the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation had assisted with the investigation.
“We can assume that the six died from cyanide,” Chulalongkorn Hospital’s Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin told reporters, adding that results of further tests would be available on Friday.
The U.S. State Department said it was monitoring the situation and local authorities were responsible for the investigation.
Vietnam’s foreign ministry confirmed four of the dead were Vietnamese nationals and its embassy in Thailand was coordinating closely with authorities.
“We hope that the victims’ families soon overcome this great loss,” foreign ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said.
