FUKUOKA (TR) – Fukuoka Prefectural Police are investigating what is believed to have a group suicide after the corpses of four women were found in a residence in Kitakyushu City on Thursday, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (Sept. 20).
At around 9:15 a.m., officers entered the residence, located in Kokurakita Ward, and found the bodies of the four women, all believed to be in the 20s, along with burned charcoal briquettes. None of the bodies exhibited signs of external wounds.
The Kokurakita Police Station and fire officials suspect the women took their lives by inhaling carbon monoxide gas released by the briquettes.
At around 3:00 a.m. that same day, the mother of a woman residing in the residence telephoned police, saying that her daughter had hinted at wanting to take her life.
Police are now seeking to confirm the identities of the bodies.
