Cyanide found in food of 6 dead Vietnamese, American citizens in Thailand

By VNA, VnExpress July 19, 2024 | 03:01 pm PT

Deputy Metropolitan Police Commissioner Police Lieutenant General Noppasin Poonsawat speaks during a press conference following a case of six foreign nationals found dead inside a room at Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel at Lumpini Police Station, in Bangkok, Thailand, July 17, 2024. Photo by Reuters/Chalinee Thirasupa

Thai authorities have found cyanide not only in tea, but also in food in a hotel room in Bangkok, where six people, four Vietnamese and two Americans of Vietnamese descent, were found dead, local media reported.

Photos of food in the room at the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel where the murder-suicide occurred showed that some plates had their plastic wrap removed. However, there have not been any specific reports of any dishes containing cyanide.

Thai police still need more time to prove whom the cyanide belonged to, because of different evidence and a lot of people involved.

Earlier, autopsy results released on July 17 confirmed that the six people died of cyanide poisoning, a substance that causes acute asphyxia.

The six had been found dead in the locked room at the luxury hotel on Tuesday.

Police identified Vietnamese-American woman Sherine Chong, 56, as the suspected killer, and attributed the deaths to cyanide poisoning. Chong had also killed herself.

The other five were another American Dang Hung Van, 55, and Vietnamese nationals Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, 47, Pham Hong Thanh, 49, Tran Dinh Phu, 37, and Nguyen Thi Phuong, 46.

The six had had a dispute over debts related to an investment, according to the police, who are still investigating how Chong obtained the cyanide and whether she had accomplices.

General Noppasin Poolsawat, deputy chief of the Bangkok police, told correspondents that the deceased had a dispute over a hospital construction project in Japan.