Toxin link in death of tourists in Thailand
Source: Agencies |
August 17, 2011, Wednesday
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An investigation into the mysterious deaths of foreign tourists and a Thai tour guide in hotels in northern Thailand suggests a link to toxic chemical exposure but has failed to determine exactly what killed them, the government said yesterday.
The victims included tourists from New Zealand, the US and the UK staying at hotels in the city of Chiang Mai. Three other tourists fell ill but recovered.
The Department of Disease Control said: "The specific agents that caused the deaths and illnesses in these events cannot be identified, and it cannot be determined exactly how people were exposed to them."
The results were most revealing in the case of a 23-year-old New Zealand woman who died in February, her two female companions who became sick but recovered, and a 47-year-old Thai woman who died a few days earlier at the same hotel.
The four are "most likely to have the same cause of illness, probably exposure to some toxic chemical, pesticides or gas," the department said.
The deaths of an elderly UK couple found in their room a fortnight later were "possibly related" to those deaths "as they occurred in the same hotel" - the Downtown Inn. The hotel owner declined to comment yesterday.
In a report broadcast in May, New Zealand's TV3 said it found traces of the toxic insecticide chlorpyrifos, used to kill bedbugs, in the room where the New Zealand tourist had stayed.
A government report said the cause of death of a 33-year-old US woman earlier in January "is likely to be chemical or biotoxin in nature, probably a pesticide."
She was staying in another hotel in the same area. A 29-year-old Canadian woman traveling with her became ill but recovered.
The victims included tourists from New Zealand, the US and the UK staying at hotels in the city of Chiang Mai. Three other tourists fell ill but recovered.
The Department of Disease Control said: "The specific agents that caused the deaths and illnesses in these events cannot be identified, and it cannot be determined exactly how people were exposed to them."
The results were most revealing in the case of a 23-year-old New Zealand woman who died in February, her two female companions who became sick but recovered, and a 47-year-old Thai woman who died a few days earlier at the same hotel.
The four are "most likely to have the same cause of illness, probably exposure to some toxic chemical, pesticides or gas," the department said.
The deaths of an elderly UK couple found in their room a fortnight later were "possibly related" to those deaths "as they occurred in the same hotel" - the Downtown Inn. The hotel owner declined to comment yesterday.
In a report broadcast in May, New Zealand's TV3 said it found traces of the toxic insecticide chlorpyrifos, used to kill bedbugs, in the room where the New Zealand tourist had stayed.
A government report said the cause of death of a 33-year-old US woman earlier in January "is likely to be chemical or biotoxin in nature, probably a pesticide."
She was staying in another hotel in the same area. A 29-year-old Canadian woman traveling with her became ill but recovered.
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