Health

Thailand Hotel Epicenter of Mysterious Deaths

by Blaine Metzgar | May 8, 2009 at 09:03 am

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Mystery surrounds the deaths of two women at a hotel in Thailand. Two others have fallen ill after staying at the same hotel as well.

Jill St. Onge, 27, died Saturday while at a hotel on Thailand's Phi Phi island. She became ill and died before her fiancé, Ryan Kells, could get her to a hospital

Kells also showed symptoms of an illness, both he and St. Onge were severely vomiting before the 27 year-old passed away.

The couples' room was then rented out to two Norwegian women the next day and both developed similar symptoms. Julie Michelle Bergheim passed away two days later on May 4 in Bangkok Hospital Phuket.

Another tourist, a 22-year-old Norwegian woman, died at the same resort the same weekend, according to the U.S. Embassy in Thailand .

Norwegian media reported that the woman could have been a victim of food poisoning. Papers in Thailand have questioned whether both women were poisoned.

The U.S. Embassy in Thailand has been working with the St. Onge family on a daily basis.

"We are in contact with police who are investigating this," said embassy spokesman Michael Turner. "The police know we are concerned about this, but as with any investigation, it could take some time."

St. Onge's family have set up a blog to publicize the story. Kells wrote on the site blaming the air conditioning for the illness. He claims he survived because he spent less time in the room than his fiancé.