Bangkok Airways probes passenger death

BANGKOK (AFP): Bangkok Airways said today it had launched an investigation into the death of a 52-year-old German tourist who was apparently the victim of food poisoning. The dead man, identified only as Josef B, had flown on Bangkok Airways from Koh Samui to Bangkok shortly before boarding a Lauda Air flight to Austria yesterday morning. During that flight he collapsed, slipping into a coma shortly before landing in Vienna. A Lauda Air spokesman said the man “ate absolutely nothing on board because he already felt sick”. A Bangkok Airways official confirmed Josef B was aboard the one-hour flight from Koh Samui to Bangkok, but said passengers had only been served snacks of candy and caramel custard. “We are not ignoring the report, but we need to find out more before we can conclude anything,” Bangkok Airways spokesman Thavatvong Thanasumitra said. He added that the airline would ask its agent in Germany to contact other passengers who took the same flight. Thavatvong said it was highly likely that the group contracted food poisoning from something they ate before their flight. “Hopefully, we will have more information within 24 hours,” he said.