TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese police said Tuesday they were investigating a group suicide in which seven people who got acquainted through the Internet killed themselves. Four men and three women, mostly in their 20s, were found dead in a car parked on a mountain in Minano, Saitama prefecture near Tokyo, the police said. Police found four charcoal stoves in the car, the windows of which were sealed from the inside. The car was wrapped in blue plastic sheets.
"We believe they all died after inhaling carbon monoxide from the charcoal," a police spokesman said. "We believe they got acquainted through the Internet."
One of the seven had sent an e-mail to a friend Monday saying he would commit suicide, the spokesman said. "We found no traces of violence that could have otherwise led to their deaths," he said.
Police said cases of "Internet suicide" had started to come to the fore in early 2003 and that a total of 34 people had killed themselves in such pacts.
[In an effort to keep up with the latest fads amongst young Internet users, AOL has started a Suicide Pact chat room - but you must be 18 or older to join. Also, it is required that your will cite AOL as a benefactor.]*
*added by Mike