Seven found dead in apparent group suicides

Seven bodies have been found in two cars in northern Japan, in what police suspected today were the country’s latest group suicides.

Four people were found by police at an isolated mountainside car park in Nikko last night.

The three men – aged 35, 31 and 21 – and a 23-year-old woman were found along with a group suicide note inside the rented car.

A second car was found early today with the bodies of two men and one woman in Ninomiya, about 30 miles from Nikko.

Charcoal stoves were found inside both vehicles and the windows were sealed shut with tape. All seven appeared to have died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

It was not immediately clear whether the two cases were related or whether the victims knew one another beforehand, Hirai said.

Japan has been the scene of a spate of suicide pacts in recent years, many thought to have been plotted by people who met over the internet.

So far this year, at least five groups totalling 20 dead have been found under similar circumstances, including the latest victims.

Suicide pacts have been made over the internet since the late 1990s, and have been reported everywhere from Guam to the Netherlands.

Experts say they tend to occur in cycles, with news of group suicides sparking copycat incidents.