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Cyanide found in cups after six people died in Bangkok hotel, including two Americans

Theo

Traces of cyanide were found in the cups of six people found dead under unclear circumstances in a Bangkok hotel, Thai police said on Wednesday, adding that they may have been poisoned.

The six bodies were found on 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, aged between 37 and 56. All of them were of Vietnamese descent, two had U.S. citizenship and the others were Vietnamese, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said during a news conference on Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. Trairong Piwpan, chief of the Thai police’s forensic department, said Wednesday that traces of cyanide were found in the defendants’ cups and thermoses in their room, the Associated Press reported. The first results of an autopsy were expected later Wednesday, he said.

The suspected poisoning may have been the result of a business dispute between the people, police said, according to AP.

According to AP, Bangkok deputy police chief Noppasin Punsawat, citing interviews with relatives of the victims, said two of the victims, a married couple, had given money to two of the others to invest in building a hospital in Japan. Noppasin said the alleged poisoning could be related to a dispute over the investment, AP reported.

Photos released by police showed the dead lying on the floor in different parts of the hotel room. The food, which had apparently been ordered for six people, appeared to be untouched and still wrapped in plastic.

Noppasin said the case appeared to be personal in nature and did not concern the safety of tourists, AP reported. Thailand’s economy is heavily dependent on the tourism industry.

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