Four Vietnamese were found dead late on Saturday in an apartment in Taoyuan, in what is being investigated as a case of carbon monoxide poisoning, police said yesterday.
The Taoyuan Police Department’s Yangmei Precinct said it received a request at about 10pm on Saturday to check in on the occupants of a rental unit in Yangmei District (楊梅), after their friends had been unable to reach them for several days.
Upon arriving, officers found four Vietnamese nationals — two men and two women — lying dead inside the home, with no visible signs of a struggle or external injuries, police said in a news release.
Photo copied by Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
A preliminary investigation found that their deaths were likely caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.
However, a request for autopsies was submitted to Taoyuan prosecutors to confirm the cause, the department said.
The deceased were identified as a 22-year-old man surnamed Nguyen and a 27-year-old man surnamed Tran — both absconded migrant workers — a 23-year-old female migrant worker surnamed Nguyen and a 20-year-old female exchange student surnamed Phan.
Responding officers found the man Nguyen lying on the floor in the bathroom, where the hot water was still running and the door and window were closed, police said.
Phan was found in one of the home’s bedrooms, while Tran and the female Nguyen were found in another bedroom, police said, adding that there were no signs of forced entry or theft at the home.
In addition to requesting autopsies, police said they had notified Vietnam’s representative office in Taiwan and would review surveillance camera footage from the surrounding area.
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