Sarco suicide pod 'used for the first time' as police detain staff after US woman dies in machine
24 September 2024, 12:59 | Updated: 24 September 2024, 13:02
The Sarco suicide capsule has been used for the first time, with an American woman believed to be the first person to have died in the device.
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Police in Northern Switzerland said on Tuesday that several people have been detained and a criminal case opened in connection with the suspected death of a person.
The pod, which prior to this had never been used, allows a person inside the device to push a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber.
The person inside is then supposed to fall asleep before dying by suffocation.
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Prosecutors in Schaffhausen canton were informed by a law firm that an assisted suicide involving use of the Sarco capsule had taken place on Monday near a forest cabin in Merishausen, police said in a statement.
A photographer hoping to take pictures of the pod in use has also been detained, Dutch newspaper Volkskrant.
The Last Resort, the firm behind the pod, told the MailOnline: “On Monday 23 September, at approximately 16.01 CEST, a 64-year old woman from the mid west in the USA died using the Sarco device.”
According to the statement, Dr Florian Willet, the company’s co-president, was the only person present for the death, contrary to police reports.
He described the woman’s death as “peaceful, fast and dignified”, telling the publication it took place “under a canopy of trees, at a private forest retreat in the Canton of Schaffhausen close to the Swiss-German border.'
They added the woman “had been suffering for many years from a number of serious problems associated with severe immune compromise.”
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