Quebec sisters likely not slain: Thai police

The two Quebec women found dead Thursday night in a hotel room on Phi Phi Island in southern Thailand do not appear to have been murdered, police said Sunday.

Instead, accidental poisoning may have caused the death of Noemi Belanger, 26, and her sister Audrey Belanger, 20, at the Phi Phi Palm Residence Hotel.

An analysis of their stomach contents will help determine the true cause.

The sisters were well known and popular in their hometown Pohenegamook, Que., a rural community of about 3,000 near the border with Maine, the local mayor said.

“They were two brilliant young girls, very involved in the community,” Mayor Louise Labonte said Saturday.

The Belanger sisters were found in their room by a hotel maid. Both had been dead for about 24 hours, police said. There was blood on the women’s faces and a lot of vomit in the room — possible signs of a toxic reaction.

There were no signs of robbery or a fight.

The deaths evoke two similar and unsolved deaths three years ago on the same resort island, when two women, an American and a Norwegian, were found poisoned in their adjoining rooms. There were signs of vomiting. Their boyfriends also became ill but survived.

The island is a popular holiday spot for young people where bars stay open until dawn and binge drinking out of “buckets” is said to be a popular pastime.