Three dead in group suicide

THREE people were found dead inside a car parked outside a remote forest in southern Japan early yesterday in what police suspected was the country's latest group suicide.

A 42-year-old woman woman was slumped over the driver's seat in Yayoi, in the southern prefecture of Oita, while a 19-year-old man sat in the passenger seat.

A 26-year-old woman sat in the back seat of the car.

The three, who had no obvious external wounds, are believed to have died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Three portable stoves containing solid charcoal fuel sat on the floor and the windows were sealed with vinyl tape from the inside.

Police found suicide notes in the car.