Criminal Investigation Bureau officers and Penghu County police yesterday launched an investigation into the death of two people suspected of committing suicide by burning charcoal in their home.
Police said the bodies were those of 25-year-old Chen Yu-han (陳鈺涵) and her 59-year-old father, Chen Chun-hsi (陳春溪), who had sealed their windows and doors with tape, preventing air flow into their house in Penghu.
Chen Yu-han had been part of a group suicide attempt with four other female relatives — her mother, sister, aunt and cousin — on Jan. 6, police said. Four of the women died, with only Chen Yu-han surviving.
Photo: CNA
Police and the fire department yesterday broke into the residence and found charcoal residue and the two bodies, which were in a state of rigor mortis, indicating that some hours had passed since their deaths and the suspected suicide had taken place late the previous night or in the early morning hours.
Bureau investigators said there were indications that it was a planned suicide that had followed the same method used on Jan. 6.
A family member telephoned Chen Yu-han yesterday morning. When she did not answer, the relative asked a friend, surnamed Su (蘇), to check on the family.
Photo: Liu Yu-ching, Taipei Times
The deaths occurred in the same Magong City (馬公) home as the Jan. 6 group suicide.
Su said she found the door locked and received no response when she knocked.
She called the police and the fire department for help, she said.
The bodies were found in the second-floor rooms, officials said.
Police said that following the Jan. 6 incident, Chen Yu-han had received psychiatric help.
Local government health officials said they had checked on the family at their home in the past few months and had reported that they were both in “stable condition” without signs of abnormal behavior.
Help is freely available on the suicide prevention hotline (08) 0078-8995 and life advice hotline 1995, health authorities said in a statement.
No problem is too big to be solved and there are agencies and health professionals to provide help 24 hours a day, they said.
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
LONG-HELD POSITION: Washington has repeatedly and clearly reiterated its support for Taiwan and its long-term policy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday said that Taiwan should not be concerned about being used as a bargaining chip in the ongoing US-China trade talks. “I don’t think you’re going to see some trade deal where, if what people are worried about is, we’re going to get some trade deal or we’re going to get favorable treatment on trade in exchange for walking away from Taiwan,” Rubio told reporters aboard his airplane traveling between Israel and Qatar en route to Asia. “No one is contemplating that,” Reuters quoted Rubio as saying. A US Treasury spokesman yesterday told reporters
RSS