Emergency.Blog

Poison Suicide Gas Sends At Least 90 to Hospital

11:35, Thursday April 24, 2008

INTERNATIONAL HAZ-MAT NEWS/ ERRI ADVISORY

Poison Gas Suicide Puts 90 In Hospital

JAPAN: Some 90 residents of an apartment block in Japan had to be taken to hospital after a teenager committed suicide by making poisonous hydrogen sulphide gas. The 14-year-old was said to be the latest person to kill herself by the method, which has received much recent media attention in the country.

Reports say websites have sprung up showing people how to make the poisonous gas with bathroom cleaning products. Police found a container of such a product in the girl's apartment that they believe may have been used to make the gas, according to the fire department.

The apartment block filled with a "rotten egg" smell from the hydrogen sulphide gas the girl made up and released.

More than 100 residents were evacuated from the building, with most - including the girl's mother - taken to hospital.

The fire department said it found a note on the door of the girl's apartment which read: "Poisonous gas being produced".

Japan's public broadcaster says 40 such suicide case have occurred this year, citing figures from the country's suicide prevention association.

The country's suicide rate is among the highest in the world, with the annual figure from the past nine years higher than 30,000, according to police data.

-- Source: http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1313891,00.html

RELATED

Apr 24 03:18 AM US/Eastern

LEAD: 1 girl dies, 120 evacuate after her suspected suicide by gassing

KOCHI, JAPAN (Kyodo/AP): A 14-year-old girl was found dead Wednesday in an apparent suicide by gassing in Konan, Kochi Prefecture and about 120 neighbors were forced to evacuate, police said.

Of the 120 people, 90 people were taken or went on their own to hospitals, the police said. At least three people, including a woman, 38, believed to be the girl's mother, were hospitalized.

A 27-year-old woman who lives in the condominium briefly became unconscious, but her condition is not life-threatening, firefighters said. Others are suffering mild symptoms such as sore throat and other conditions.

The police suspect the girl may have committed suicide at her home, where she lived with her mother, in a five-story condominium in the city. A note was posted on the front door of her home that said, "Gas is being generated. Do not open."

The girl was found lying in the bathroom wearing a school uniform and hydrogen sulfide was coming out of a box placed in the bathroom, according to the firefighters.

The police said they received initial reports from condominium residents about an abnormal odor at around 19:45 p.m. Wednesday. After residents were evacuated, the condominium buildings were kept off- limits until Thursday morning, the firefighters said.

The police have conducted an autopsy on the girl and found that she died of gas poisoning. According to a friend of the girl, she came to school only several days after the new school year started earlier this month.

Hydrogen sulfide, which can be made by using common detergent or liquid bath agents, is used increasingly in suicides, accompanied by alert notices indicating that gas is being generated.

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ERRI hazardous materials specialist comment by Chief C. L. Staten: If it happens in Japan, it could happen elsewhere. If it has not already, something like this could appear in a video on FaceBook, MySpace, or some other "social network" site and the idea could then soon spread around the world. We are concerned that, potentially, this sort of idea could be adopted for use in some sort of "school violence threat" by a disillusioned/despondent student...or other nefarious person. This information regarding the dangers of routine household products, used to produce poison gases, should be noted and studied by Haz-mat crews and shared with other emergency first responders. Caution is urged about this one...DO NOT...REPEAT...DO NOT...TRY THIS AT HOME.

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Additional/Previous Reference/Data:

4/17/2008

Japanese fad: rotten-egg suicide gassing

"Traditionally" Japanese suicide with been done in the past couple of decades with carbon monoxide -poisoning with leaving a small, burning, charcoal grill in a confined space or commonly inside a rented automobile.

However, there has been a new fad in the past few months to mix Japanese SunpoleR toilet cleaner and MUTOUHAPPU (calcium sulfide) bath salts to produce deadly poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas. The problem is that poisonous hydrogen sulfide-the rotten-egg gas-produces a lot of collateral damage killing the rescuers. family members, firefighters, and police officers. It even endangers people in other apartments below the suicide room since the gas is heavier than air.

[This case follows a spate of 26 incidents in which 27 people have allegedly killed themselves by mixing detergents and generating hydrogen sulfide since the beginning of this year, police said.]

-- Source: http://news.3yen.com/2008-04-17/japanese-fad-rotten-egg-suicide-gassing/