The Judiciary Police (PJ) were notified by Fire Services Bureau (CB) paramedics yesterday evening that a local man had committed suicide by burning charcoal in his flat on Avenida de Horta e Costa, PJ spokesman Chan Wun Man said in a statement last night.
The statement noted that the 67-year-old victim, surnamed Tam, lived in the flat alone.
Tam’s relatives told the police that the deceased did not reply to their text message yesterday, but considering that he had been in contact with them all the time, they went to his flat at 6:43 p.m. yesterday to look for him, the statement said, adding that after the relatives arrived at the scene and opened the metal gate with a spare key, they saw that towels had been jammed around the edges of the wooden front door and around the victim’s bedroom door from the inside.
After opening the bedroom door, the relatives saw him lying unconscious on the bed, the statement said. It added that there was a metal stove on the floor in the middle of the room, and the charcoal in the stove had been burnt to ashes. The relatives called the police.
According to the statement, the paramedics arrived at the scene and confirmed that Tam had died.
No signs of fighting or a burglary were found at the scene, the statement said. Upon examination of the body, no suspicious injuries were found either, the statement added.
The statement noted that no suicide note was found in the room.
According to the statement, the Judiciary Police have classified the case as a dead body found. The statement added that the exact cause of death still needed to be confirmed by a forensic examination.
Image courtesy of The Gleaner
