June 18, 2012
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thai police on Monday promised a swift investigation into the deaths of two Canadian sisters found in their hotel room on a popular resort island.
The bodies of Audrey and Noemi Belanger, aged 20 and 26, from Quebec province, were found Friday by hotel staff on Phi Phi island in the Andaman Sea, showing signs of having suffered an extreme toxic reaction.
Police said on Sunday that "serious food poisoning" might have been to blame, but the authorities stressed that it was too early to pinpoint the cause of the deaths.
"We will send all evidence to Bangkok's forensic department this afternoon and ask them to process it quickly to establish what killed them," said Krabi province police chief Jamroon Reunrom.
"As well as the police forensic team, a team from the health ministry's department of disease control also came to help, but we could not say right now what is the cause of the deaths," he added.
"I prefer to wait for formal results from the police forensic team in Bangkok."
Officials said they found vomit in the room and blood on the sisters' lips and gums, while their fingernails and toenails were blue.
They said there was no indication of a violent struggle inside the room at the Palm Residence Hotel. The hotel manager declined to speak to AFP.
Phi Phi island is one of Thailand's top tourist destinations, made famous by the 2000 film The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Thailand, which has cultivated an image as the "Land of Smiles", is a tourist magnet, but visitor deaths are not uncommon.
Two tourists, a Norwegian and an American, fell ill and died on Phi Phi in 2009 but the exact cause has not been established.
Uncertainty also remains over six deaths -- including four in a single hotel -- in northern Chiang Mai last year. Authorities said poisoning by pesticides or other chemicals was the likely cause of most of those fatalities.
