Man vomits harmful gas, 54 people fall ill

KUMAMOTO, Japan, May 22 (UPI) -- A Japanese man who drank liquid pesticide in a suicide attempt vomited toxic fumes before he died, leaving 54 people in need of treatment, officials say.

Fifty-four people were exposed to the hazardous gas Wednesday after a 34-year-old farmer was taken to a hospital in Kumamoto City, Japan, after he drank chloropicrin, a pesticide, in a suicide attempt, Kyodo news agency reported Thursday.

After doctors pumped his stomach, the farmer vomited the toxic chemical, releasing harmful gas into the hospital room, the report said.

Twenty-three of the affected people were patients and 31 were hospital workers, officials at the Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital said.

The farmer was declared dead but police told Kyodo the 54 people sickened by the gas aren't in life-threatening conditions.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International