Six found dead in Bangkok hotel were poisoned by drinks laced with cyanide, say police

Police investigation into the death of six people, whose bodies were found by housekeepers at the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel in Bangkok late on Tuesday, has revealed that they were poisoned by drinks laced with cyanide.

According to a BBC report, police suspect that one of the dead was behind the poisoning and was driven by crushing debt.

Initial tests had detected cyanide - a deadly chemical that interferes with the body’s ability to use oxygen - in a tea flask, six cups and in the blood of one of the dead men, reported The Guardian.

The deceased were Vietnamese, and two had American citizenship, according to the Thai authorities, who said the FBI was assisting with the investigation.

Thai police indicated that the poisonings took place on Monday afternoon, following a room service delivery of food and English tea to their fifth-floor room at the hotel in the commercial district.

According to The Guardian, citing Noppasin Poonsawat, the deputy commander of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, when the room service staff arrived, only one of the six individuals — a 56-year-old woman — was present. She accepted the food and drinks and informed hotel staff that the tea didn’t need to be served.

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Shortly thereafter, CCTV footage captured all six members of the group gathering outside their room and entering it, marking the last time they were seen alive, added the report.

“It all started after 13:57 (on Monday]), after the hotel staff brought six teacups, a milk pot and two flasks into the room. We found cyanide on the six cups. According to CCTV, there was no one else – apart from the six members of the group – going inside the room, and none of them were seen coming out, after 14:17," The Guardian quoted Noppasin as saying.

The group of three women and three men was found dead late on Tuesday afternoon, when a member of the housekeeping staff found them after they missed their checkout time.

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Upon discovery, the plates of food they had ordered remained untouched and were still wrapped in clingfilm. Their luggage was packed, and a police search overnight revealed no illegal materials inside.

The Vietnamese nationals were identified as Thi Nguyen Phuong (46), her husband Hong Pham Thanh (49), Thi Nguyen Phuong Lan (47), and Dinh Tran Phu (37), while the US citizens were identified as Sherine Chong (56) and Dang Hung Van.

Authorities are reviewing extensive CCTV footage to reconstruct the timeline of their stay in Bangkok.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the FBI was assisting in the investigation due to the involvement of two American citizens.

Srettha clarified that the incident was not linked to terrorism and assured that a scheduled meeting with the Russian energy minister at the same hotel on Wednesday was unlikely to be affected.

“The incident is not related to terrorism or lack of security measurement, so I think everything will go as schedule,” he was quoted as saying.

According to BBC, police had initially been searching for a seventh person included in the group’s reservation who did not check in. However, on Wednesday, authorities confirmed that this seventh individual was the younger sister of one of the women, who had returned to Vietnam before the incident occurred.

The married couple within the group, who operated a construction company in Vietnam, had lent 10 million baht ($278,025) to another member for a business venture involving a hospital project in Japan, added the report, citing police.

A financial dispute over the money had emerged.

Further details regarding the amount of cyanide consumed were anticipated to be disclosed on Wednesday afternoon.

A spokesperson from the US State Department said they are “closely monitoring the situation and [we] stand ready to provide consular assistance.”

This incident is not the first high-profile case involving cyanide in Thailand.

Last year, a Thai woman accused of using cyanide in multiple poisonings was charged with 14 counts of murder, marking one of the country’s most severe suspected cases of serial killings.

With inputs from agencies