Six people found dead inside a luxury hotel room in central Bangkok may have been poisoned, with Thai police now exploring that possibility.
Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel staff discovered the bodies in a fifth-floor room after they missed check out time by more than 24 hours, according to Bangkok’s Metropolitan Police commissioner Thiti Saengsawang.
Police said the incident does not appear to be a robbery and none of the bodies showed any signs of suffering physical violence.
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Police also believe “they didn’t harm themselves”.
But Thiti said cups with traces of a white powder were located in the room, along with untouched food that had been ordered earlier.
Poisoning has not been ruled out, Thiti said.
Authorities are currently searching for a seventh person who was part of the hotel booking and is now a possible suspect.
Two of the dead were US citizens of Vietnamese background, while the other four were Vietnamese nationals.
Thiti said police believe one member of the party had tried to reach the door but fell and died before they could get there.
Police were pictured guarding the entrance of the five-star hotel on Tuesday.
The US State Department said it was “aware of reports of the deaths of two US citizens in Bangkok”.
“We offer our sincere condolences to the families on their loss,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and stand ready to provide consular assistance to those families.
“Whenever a US citizen dies in a foreign country, local authorities are responsible for determining the cause of death.
“We do reach out to local authorities often to communicate with them when it involves the death of a US citizen and we will certainly be doing so here.”
Miller said he did not know if the deaths were discussed during US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call with his Thai counterpart, which may have taken place before the agency was aware of the deaths.
Last year Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, a Thai woman who was arrested on suspicion of murdering her friend with cyanide, was charged with at least 13 counts of premeditated murder in a separate poisoning case that stunned the country.
