Japan family 'starved' to death

2012-02-21 11:05

Tokyo - The bodies of an elderly couple and their son have been found in an eastern Japan apartment around two months after their deaths, police said on Tuesday, amid reports they died of starvation.

"Bodies of two men and one woman were found" in the apartment in Saitama City, north of Tokyo late Monday, a local police official said.

"They are believed to be a couple in their 60s and their son in his 30s but we are yet to identify them officially," he said.

Their rotting corpses were reportedly found by their landlord when he visited them because they were six months behind on their rent.

The electricity and gas supply had been cut off and they were believed to have been living only on water, according to the private TBS broadcaster.

There was no food in the apartment and police found only a few yen (cents) there, TBS added.

Police said an autospy was due to take place on Tuesday.

- SAPA