Canadian sisters found dead in Thai hotel room

PA

Two sisters from Canada have been found dead in their hotel room at the Phi Phi Palm Residence Hotel on the resort island of Phi Phi, Thailand.

The Daily Mail reports that police believe that Audrey and Noemi Belanger, aged 20 and 26, may have been poisoned.

The sisters' bodies were discovered by maids on Friday. According to the Phuket Gazette, they were covered in vomit, had skin lesions and had been bleeding from their gums. Both women's fingernails and toenails were blue.

Lt. Col. Rat Somboon of Krabi Provincial Police believes that the women had been dead for between 12 and 20 hours when their bodies were discovered.

Initial investigations did not reveal any violence in their hotel rooms, but they will now undergo autopsies to determine the cause of death.

The women, from the town of Pohenegamook, near Quebec city, checked into the hotel on Tuesday.

Lt Siwa Saneha of Phi Phi Island police told the Phuket Gazette: "They went out and came back to their room that same night, but stayed in their room all day on Wednesday.

"A maid knocked on the door to clean the room on Thursday, but there was no response, so the maid thought the women needed more rest and left."

The following day hotel staff became concerned for their welfare and used the master keys to enter the room.

In a similar case in May 2009, an American woman and a Norwegian woman died after suffering severe vomiting and dehydration at a Phi Phi guesthouse. The cause of death was never determined.

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