3 die, 1 seriously ill, probably due to gas at hot spring
December 29, 2005Three members of a family of four died near a hot-spring inn in Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture, on Thursday, probably affected by hydrogen sulfide gas from hot springs, police said. They were Rie Matsui, 42, and her sons Biita, 8, and Chitaru, 6, from Tokyo's Toshima Ward, they said, adding Rie's husband Yasushi, a 47-year-old research assistant at the University of Tokyo, is also in a serious condition.