 Japan man allegedly tries to kill mother in gassing craze
TOKYO - A JAPANESE farmer was arrested on Thursday for allegedly trying to gas to death his mother, using a detergent blamed for a spate of suicides across the nation, police said.
Japan has seen suicides nearly every day since March using gas created by mixing common detergent and bath salts, leading police to urge Internet providers to crack down on sites giving instructions.
In the northern town of Koorimachi on Thursday, 49-year-old farmer Nobuya Matsuno was arrested on allegations that he turned to the gas method in an attempt to kill his 82-year-old mother.
Matsuno was caught by his 80-year-old father, who found his son trying to mix toilet detergent with insecticide in a bucket late on Wednesday, a police official said.
The father, who called police, said he had been keeping an eye on his son.
'I felt he had been acting strangely from Wednesday morning,' he said, as quoted by Jiji Press.
The online edition of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said the younger Matsuno admitted the charges, citing family trouble as his motive.
At least 64 suicide cases using the gas were reported throughout the nation since March 27, according to disaster services. Japan has one of the world's highest suicide rates.
Many victims post a note outside to warn neighbours or rescuers about the deadly gas, apparently in keeping with recommendations on the Internet.
In the latest case, hundreds of residents fled their homes on Thursday as a 24-year-old man killed himself, police said.
The man was found collapsed in his house in the northern city of Otaru, with his 58-year-old mother also lying unconscious nearby. Both were rushed to hospital where the son was confirmed dead.
The mother was recovering, according to a police official.
'We told some 350 residents in the neighbourhood to evacuate, given the past cases in which the gas injured others,' he said.
The residents returned home after spending a couple of hours waiting in an elementary school playground. -- AFP 
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