New Zealand TV: bug spray likely killed tourist
New Zealand’s show “60 Minutes,” a spin-off of the CBS program, claims bug spray is the likely cause of a tourist’s death in Thailand.
A New Zealand news team claims to have found the "likely" cause of death of a healthy 23-year-old tourist whose strange death in Thailand has plagued a popular hotel.
The killer? Probably toxic bug spray, says the news show "60 Minutes," which is a local spin-off of the American program on CBS.
New Zealanders have been captivated by the unexplained death of Sarah Carter, a healthy traveler who checked into a downtown hotel in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and later died inside her room. The mystery is compounded by similar deaths of six others in the city, according to 60 Minutes. Some died in the same hotel, a coincidence the city's mayor told reporters amounted to "bad luck."
Carter's death was likely caused by an "overzealous sprayer" of bed-bug killing insecticide, according to a U.N.-employed chemical expert who analyzed samples obtained by the news program. The report shows a journalist scraping surfaces in the hotel room to collect lab evidence.
A chemical called "chlorpyrifos" was found on the samples, according to 60 Minutes. The chemical, still used in some insecticides, is heavily regulated in the U.S. as it can cause severe illness.