Cause of death of Vietnamese in Bangkok: Cyanide poisoning

According to VNA, on the afternoon of July 17, the Chula Institute of Forensic Medicine (Thailand) announced the results of the autopsy, confirming that the six foreigners found dead at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel were due to cyanide poisoning causing acute asphyxiation.

The report said that a total of six bodies had been received, including three females and three males; all six bodies had been identified and their nationalities had been determined, including four Vietnamese nationals and two Americans. The report confirmed that all six had died approximately 12 to 24 hours before being discovered. To reach a conclusion on the cause of death, doctors conducted blood, urine, and vitreous humor tests as well as CT scans to look for signs of assault.

“The autopsy of the six victims showed signs of hypoxia, dark purple lips, a special complexion, and dark purple fingernails. During the screening, cyanide was detected. However, we still have to wait for the results of blood tests to confirm the concentration or amount of cyanide, as well as detect other toxins. The exact results will be available within the next 1-2 days,” said Dr. Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin, a forensic pathologist at the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University.

According to medical experts, people who eat or drink cyanide will die quickly from suffocation, convulsions due to lack of oxygen to the brain, causing acute hypoxia. Current experimental evidence shows that cyanide is the cause of death.

At a press conference earlier the same day, Thai police also said they found cyanide in all the coffee cups at the scene, while emphasizing the possibility that one of the six dead people was the culprit.

Major General Noppasin Poolsawat, Deputy Commander of the Bangkok Metropolitan Police, announced that through checking surveillance camera images, it was confirmed that only the 6 people mentioned above entered and exited the scene at room number 502 of the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel.

According to the police, these 6 people traveled to Thailand between July 4 and 12. Among them was a couple from Ho Chi Minh City, but did not check into the hotel at the same time.

The last time the victims were seen alive was when hotel staff served food to room 502 at 1:57 p.m. on July 15. During questioning, these staff stated that when they entered the room, they only met an American woman who received the food and drinks. A hotel staff wanted to help this woman make tea or coffee, but she refused and said she would make it herself. When the hotel staff left the room, this woman was alone in the room.

Camera footage recorded between 2:03 p.m. and 2:17 p.m. shows five more people dragging suitcases into the room. After that, no one left the room. Thus, all six victims were in room 502 at 2:17 p.m. and no one left afterward.

According to Mr. Noppasin, this case is a personal matter of 6 individuals, not related to criminal gangs in Thailand.

Based on evidence at the scene, along with information obtained about Ms. Sherine Chong, an American citizen, owing a debt to the Vietnamese couple, the police suspect that she was the one who poisoned the others and committed suicide.

Police also said that the seventh person, who is believed to have booked a room with the victims, is the sister of one of the victims who arrived in Thailand on July 4. However, this person left the country and returned to Vietnam on July 10 and is not related to the above incident.

According to VNA

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nguyen-nhan-vu-nguoi-viet-tu-vong-o-bangkok-do-ngo-doc-chat-cyanide-cyanua-post749793.html