The six guests found dead at a luxury hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, are believed to have been poisoned with cyanide over an investment deal according to authorities. Cyanide was found in the blood of all six individuals, according to autopsy results released Wednesday, July 17. Meanwhile, a CAT scan found no evidence of blunt force trauma, reaffirming police suspicions that it was a poisoning.
“What we saw from the blood tests was that the blood was bright red in color, quite different to other cases.” Dr. Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin, the head of the Forensics department at Chulalongkorn University’s medical school, said during a news conference Wednesday. “This is what leads the autopsy team to surmise that poison was ingested, most likely cyanide.”
The bodies of two Vietnamese-Americans and four Vietnamese nationals were found at the Grand Hyatt Erawan in Bangkok’s city center on Tuesday. According to reports, the six victims were alive as of Monday afternoon. However, when they failed to check out of the hotel the following day, hotel staff entered the room and found the bodies along with food from the previous day that remained untouched.
There were several used tea cups along with two thermos bottles found on the room’s table. The chief of the Thai Police Force’s forensic division said traces of cyanide were found on those cups and bottles.
According to Thai authorities, two of the victims, a husband and wife, had invested $278,000 with two others. That investment was intended to be used to build a hospital in Japan. Police said the group likely was at the hotel for a meeting to discuss the issue.
There was a seventh member of the party on the booking, but they left Thailand last week and police don’t think that individual had any involvement in the deaths. Instead, police believe one of the deceased killed the others, but have yet to identify a specific suspect.
Thai authorities believe this is an isolated incident and the heavily trafficked tourist area is still safe. They added that the situation would not affect a conference with Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev, which is set to take place at the hotel on Wednesday.
