US woman dies in controversial suicide capsule in Switzerland

This photograph shows a view of the Sarco assisted suicide capsule, during a press conference organised by the "Last Resort", a Swiss human rights non-profit association focused on assisted suicide, in Zurich on July 17, 2024. [AFP]

A 64-year-old US woman took her own life inside a controversial suicide capsule at a Swiss woodland retreat, with police on Tuesday saying several people had been arrested.

The space-age-looking Sarco capsule, which fills with nitrogen and causes death by hypoxia, was used on Monday outside a village near the German border.