Downtown Inn deaths blamed on pesticides

6 Sep 2011

Investigations into the deaths of four people at a Chiang Mai hotel have revealed the likely cause was exposure to insecticides. Thai Public Health Ministry officials and international organisations have conducted exhaustive tests in an effort to determine what killed the four victims staying at the city’s Downtown Inn.

The four victims were a female Thai tour guide, New Zealand national 23-year-old Sarah Carter and pensioners George and Eileen Everitt from the UK. Guide Waraporn Pungmahisiranon and the Everitts were found dead in their rooms while Ms Carter, and her two travelling companions, became ill and went to a local hospital where she later passed away.

The four all died within a two-week period in February this year. Health officials also tried to determine if their was a connection to the January deaths of two women, an American and a French citizen, who passed away after displaying similar symptoms, although were staying at different hotels.

Murray McCully, New Zealand's Foreign Minister, said recently that Thai officials believed exposure to noxious chemicals or pesticides had killed the Downtown’s guests and caused Ms Carter’s friends to become ill. Mr McCully said that the admission chemicals might be to blame was a major development.

In the UK, the BBC alleged that traces of chlorpyrifos had been found in the room that the three New Zealanders had stayed in. The chemical is typically used in the manufacture of bedbug sprays.

Stephen Everitt, the pensioners’ son, said that he could not understand why toxic substances had been used in a hotel or why the Downtown was still open for business.

Tags: Downtown Inn deaths pesticides