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Four Japanese found dead in parked car
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Four bodies were found today in a car parked in a mountainous area near Tokyo, in an apparent group suicide, police said.
The four - three men and a woman believed to be in their 20s to 30s - were found in the car, which was parked at an empty lot near a forested area in Tokigawa Village just outside Tokyo, a Saitama prefectural police spokesman said.
The four were believed to have died of carbon monoxide poisoning, he said.
Police found several portable stoves containing burned coal inside the car, the official said.
Car windows were sealed with packing tapes from the inside, the Kyodo News agency said. The four had no apparent external injuries, and left no suicide notes, Kyodo said.
From our partners
Japan has been the scene of many suicide pacts in recent years, several thought to have been devised by people who met over the internet.
Last year, 55 people in 19 groups committed suicide after meeting on the web, up from 34 dead in 12 groups in 2003, according to National Police Agency figures.
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.
AP
