TOKYO, May 21, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Japanese suicide prevention officials
sought to counter a spate of suicides in which people were killing themselves
with a mixture of detergents and chemicals.
Japanese health officials reported at least 145 suicides in 2008 using the
mixture that produces hydrogen sulfide gas, ABC news reported.
Suicide Prevention Center Director Yuzou Kato said his officials set up a
special hotline during a national celebration called "golden week" to address
suicides using the gas mixture.
"We set up a special hot line during golden week this year," he said. "We wanted
to put a stop to the increasing number of gas suicides, which have been
spreading all over Japan."
Gas suicides are particularly dangerous because the fumes can harm others.
Authorities evacuated 350 residents from a northern Japanese neighborhood in
early May when a 24-year-old man allegedly tried to commit suicide with the gas.
Japanese retail officials asked stores to remove the ingredients from their
shelves and national police urged Internet providers to remove listings linked
to gas suicides.
Tokyo media magnate Ryuichi Okita launched a Web site in 2007 to give survival
tips to people contemplating suicide.
"If our site can make them think a moment, it then could delay their action by
one day," he said. You never know what difference that one day can make."
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Copyright 2008 by United Press International