Girl, 14, mixes killer gas

A 14-year-old Japanese girl killed herself by mixing laundry detergent with cleanser, releasing fumes that also sickened 90 neighbors, police said yesterday as they grappled with a spate of similar suicides.

Deadly hydrogen sulfide gas escaped from the girl's bathroom window and entered other apartments. But none of her neighbors in Konan, southern Japan, were severely ill, although about 10 were in hospital.

The suicide was part of an expanding string of suicide by gassing that experts say have been encouraged by suicide websites since last summer.

A 31-year-old man outside Tokyo killed himself inside a car early yesterday by mixing detergent and bath salts. Also yesterday, a man in his 30s was found dead by hotel employees in Shiga prefecture. They detected a strange smell from his room.

Reports of another similar death emerged when the body of a 42-year-old woman in Nagoya was found in a bathtub. There was toilet cleaner and bath powder nearby along with a sign outside that read: "Poisonous gas being emitted."

Police say they have not tallied the number of detergent-related suicides, but reports suggest it has reached about 30 this year.

Hydrogen sulfide gas is colorless and characterized by an odor similar to that of rotten eggs. It can lead to suffocation or brain damage when inhaled.

2008-04-26

More story

.Pop Goes the Easel
.Music on Mobiles Found to be a Favorite in China
.Dumpling Scare Should Not Harm Japan-China Ties: Ministers
.China's Inflation Hits American Price Tags
.China Worries Worsen Asian Plunge
.Somewhere over the rainbow
.Kentucky Fried Rice
.The Factory Of Factories
.Airing Out Beijing
.China a Big, but not only, Contributor to Oil Prices
.Balancing Act
.China Will Eat Our Lunch
.China's Market Mood Swing
.Feeling the Cool Breeze
.China Railway Raises Three Billion Dollars on Record Bookings
.Gurus Place China Bets
.China Stock Bull Getting Older, But Won't Die
.China's Bid to Tame Economy Begins a Real Estate Bust
.'Made in India' Rising to Challenge China: Report
.The Tao of Junk
.Africa's New Car Dealer: China
.China Ready to Leap from Industrial to Information-age Economy
.Moderate Quake Hits Eastern Indonesia
.Malaysian PM: Election Voting Goes Smoothly
.Nepali PM Calls Women to Participate Polls Actively
.Malaysians Advised to Vote Early to Avoid Any Bad Weather
."Merchant of Death" to Be Detained for 12 More Days in Thailand
.Action would Be Taken against Anti-gov't Movements: Thai FM
.Afghan Police Destroy 6 Heroin Labs
.Sri Lanka to Shift SAARC Summit Venue to Colombo