UPDATED at 2:22 p.m. ET on July 16, 2024.
Police in Thailand are investigating the deaths of six foreign nationals whose bodies were found at a luxury hotel in the center of Bangkok on Tuesday evening.
The six, four Vietnamese nationals and two Vietnamese with U.S. citizenship, were found in a room at the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel, having apparently died from poisoning, metropolitan police chief Lt.. Gen. Thiti Sangsawang told a news conference.
Police arrived at the hotel at around 5:30 p.m. local time after being alerted by staff. Thiti said the six had likely died around 24 hours earlier and there were no signs of a struggle, dismissing earlier media reports of a shooting.
Six glasses were found in the hotel room, he said, adding that tea or coffee had been drunk.
The glasses are being studied by a forensic team, with police saying they expected to be able to release the results on Wednesday. The bodies have been taken to Chulalongkorn Hospital for examination.
Thai media named the six as Sherine Chong, 56, and Dang Hung Van, 55, both of whom had American citizenship, and Vietnamese nationals Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, 47, Pham Hong Thanh, 49, Tran Dinh Phu, 37, and Nguyen Thi Phuong, 46.
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin visited the scene Tuesday night, ordering a swift investigation.
"The prime minister has ordered all agencies to urgently take action to avoid impact on tourism," the Thai government said in its statement.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a briefing in Washington that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had spoken with new Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa early Tuesday but they had likely not seen news about the incident before they spoke.
“We are aware of the reports of the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Bangkok, Thailand,” Miller said. “We offer our sincere condolences to the families on their loss. We are closely monitoring the situation and stand ready to provide consular assistance to those families.”
He said U.S. authorities would be in contact with their Thai counterparts to discuss their investigations into the deaths.
The 380-room Grand Hyatt Erawan is in the Thai capital’s upscale Ratchaprasong district, just north of Lumpini Park, an area popular with tourists.
On Oct. 3, a 14-year old Thai boy opened fire in Bangkok’s upmarket Siam Paragon shopping mall, killing two women from China and Myanmar and injuring five other people.
Edited by Mike Firn and Malcolm Foster. Updated to include comments from the U.S. State Department spokesperson.