Japan Dealing With Wave Of Suicides Using Chemical Gases
A 14-year-old was one of the recent suicides by chemical reaction. The young girl mixed laundry detergent with cleanser. The fumes that escaped her apartment home were strong enough to sicken 90 people that lived in the building. Although 10 people had to remain in the hospital none of the neighbours were severely ill from the deadly hydrogen sulfide gas that killed the teen on Wednesday night.
The Japanese authorities believe that Internet suicide sites are the reasoning behind the new suicides that began to expand last summer.
On Thursday a 31-year-old man mixed detergent and bath salts inside his car in Tokyo. The dead man had put up a sign on his car window advising others to “Stay Away.”
In Shinga another chemical suicide death happened on Thursday in Shinga. A man in his 30s was found in a business hotel after employees noticed a strange smell coming from his room. The only details from that suicide that police are releasing is that the cause of death was deadly hydrogen sulfide gas.
Thursday afternoon another reported suicide by the gas was reported. A 42-year-old woman in Nagoya was found in a bathtub. Her chemical death was produced by toilet cleaner and bath powder. She had left a sign outside waring, “Poisonous gas being emitted. Caution.” Fire officials at that site reported that they could not detect hydrogen sulfide gas.
Japanese officials are not only concerned with the number of people committing the deadly act but also the means in which they are doing it. Others become in danger when the chemical gas is emitted. This year there have been about 30 people who have committed suicide in the manner.
It’s easy and everyone can do it,” said Yasuaki Shimizu, director of Lifelink, a Tokyo-based group specializing in halting suicides. “Also there is a lot of information teaching people how to do it on the Internet.”
Japan has had a large suicide rate for years. In 2006 32,155 killed themselves in the island nation. The government is hoping through anti-suicide programs to cut the number of people that commit the act. The government recently put aside $220 million dollars for those programs.
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