Suicide's toxic vomit sickens 54

KUMAMOTO (Kyodo) Fifty-four people have received medical treatment after a man who had attempted suicide threw up and toxic fumes from his vomit filled a hospital's emergency room, local police said Thursday.

Emergency room: Doctors and nurses treat people early Thursday who became ill at a hospital in Kumamoto from toxic fumes emanating from the vomit of a farmer who swallowed a dangerous pesticide. KYODO PHOTO

The man, a 34-year-old farmer, died.

None of the other patients at Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital were in life-threatening condition, police said.

The man who killed himself is believed to have swallowed a liquid pesticide called chloropicrin in a barn at his house at around 10 p.m. Wednesday with the apparent intention of killing himself. The agricultural pesticide was stored at his home, police said.

He was taken to the hospital, where doctors pumped his stomach. At around 11 p.m. he vomited the chemical, which apparently evaporated and filled the hospital room.

Of the 54 people who have been treated, 23 were patients receiving emergency care and 31 were hospital staff, the Red Cross hospital said.