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Thailand Hotel Deaths: After Cyanide Traces In Cups, Police Suspect Murder-Suicide | What We Know

Initial investigations revealed that the six foreign nationals have used the cups in the room, in which traces of a cyanide-like substance were found.

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Thailand Hotel Deaths Murder Suicide Suspected
Police Suspect Murder-Suicide | Photo: AP, Royal Thai Police
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In Thailand, six people were found dead in the cyanide poisoning case in Bangkok's Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel on Tuesday. However, police are now suspecting the deaths to be a murder-suicide.

Initial investigations revealed that the six foreign nationals have used the cups in the room, in which traces of a cyanide-like substance were found. Based on the interviews conducted by police, the deaths are likely to have been caused due to a business dispute.

Thailand Hotel Deaths: What We Know

The six deceased were all foreign nationals. Four of the deceased were Vietnamese nationals and two were Vietnamese-Americans and held US citizenship.

As per CCTV footage reviewed by police officials - "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 Royal Thai Police have stated that they have questioned the daughter of one of the victims to understand what may have happened between the families.

"The case likely stems from a debt problem. There are no other possibilities. The culprit is among the six (dead) because they were the only people who entered the room. There were no others,"Pol Maj Gen Theeradet said as per The Bangkok Post.

A total of seven people checked into the hotel. The seventh Vietnamese national was living in the room next door by checked out and left Thailand on July 10. As per police, this makes it unlikely that she would have anything to do with the deaths.