24 September 2024, 12:59 | Updated: 24 September 2024, 13:02
Picture:
Reuters
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.
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.
Picture:
Getty
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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