Woman dies in ‘suicide pod’ in Switzerland, several people arrested

Several people were taken into custody on suspicion of inciting, and aiding and abetting suicide after a woman died using a Sarco pod.

Police in northern Switzerland said Tuesday that several people have been arrested and a criminal case has been opened in connection with the suspected death of a person in a so-called “suicide pod.”

The “Sarco” pod has been in the works for years, but up until now has never been used.

The Sarco pods — short for sarcophogus — allow a person to control their death inside the pod by quickly reducing internal oxygen levels. The person intending to end their life is required to answer a set of pre-recorded questions, then press a button that floods the interior with nitrogen. The oxygen level inside is quickly reduced from 21 per cent to one per cent, and the person is supposed to fall asleep and die by suffocation in a matter of minutes.

After death, the pod can be used as a coffin.

Prosecutors in Schaffhausen canton were informed by a law firm that an “assisted suicide” involving the Sarco had taken place Monday near a forest cabin in Merishausen, regional police said in a statement. They said “several people” were taken into custody and prosecutors opened an investigation on suspicion of inciting, and aiding and abetting suicide.

It’s reported that officers recovered the device and a body at the scene.

Swiss law allows assisted suicide so long as the person takes his or her life with no “external assistance” and those who help the person die do not do so for “any self-serving motive,” according to a government website.

Currently, assisted suicide in Switzerland means swallowing a capsule filled with a cocktail of controlled substances that puts the person into a deep coma before they die.