Six people, two of them U.S. citizens, were found dead in an upscale hotel in Bangkok on Tuesday, Thailand’s prime minister said.
The bodies were found at the Grand Hyatt Erawan around 4 p.m. Tuesday local time, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said at a news conference at the hotel.
The dead were all of Vietnamese descent, two of them with U.S. citizenship and four with Vietnamese citizenship, Srettha said, adding that he had spoken with the Vietnamese ambassador.
The people were believed to have been dead since Monday, the prime minister said. There was no immediate sign of robbery or assault, and the preliminary investigation was focused on the possibility that the visitors ingested a harmful substance, he said.
The deaths of six foreigners at an upmarket hotel in the Thai capital could be a bruise for a country whose economy relies heavily on its tourism industry.
Angelina Hue, a spokeswoman for Hyatt’s Asia-Pacific region, said in an emailed statement that Hyatt was “deeply saddened by this tragic situation” and that “the safety and security of our guests and colleagues is always a top priority.” She said Hyatt was cooperating with the local authorities and referred further questions to the police.
The Vietnamese foreign ministry said in a statement to The Washington Post that the Vietnamese ambassador to Thailand, Pham Viet Hung, went with embassy officials to the hotel and that the embassy was working closely with local officials to “monitor the incident, clarify information, identify the victims, and implement necessary citizen protection measures.”
Representatives for the Thai foreign ministry, the U.S. State Department and the U.S. embassies in Bangkok and Hanoi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Photos of the room where the bodies were found showed a spread of room service food and teacups. Most of the food appeared untouched, with plastic wrap still covering some of the plates.
Wilawan reported from Bangkok. Rebecca Tan in Singapore contributed to this report.
