Man found dead in Coventry hotel room

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A man has been found dead in a hotel room in Coventry.



Emergency services were called to the Ibis in Mile Lane, Cheylesmore, just after noon today.

West Midlands Police said the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

A spokesman said: "The room has been secured and the hotel has been evacuated as a precaution as specialist colleagues from partner emergency services are at the scene to ensure the safety of others.

"The death is being treated as unexplained at this time but early indications are that the death is not suspicious.

"The man is yet to be formally identified and his family are being informed."

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The hotel was still closed this afternoon and new guests were temporarily prevented from getting inside.



Martin Sutton, who was working over the road from the hotel at the time of the safety alert, said: “I was here at 12.30pm when there was police outside the hotel, which is unusual in itself.

“Then paramedics arrived and all afternoon they’ve just kept on coming.

“Something bad is clearly going on - something out of the ordinary - it’s 2.30pm now and police and paramedics are still there.

“Nobody has given us any indication that we need to move on though.”

A police corden was set up around the hotel and car park yesterday as guests were moved to a nearby hotel.

A spokesman for Ibis Hotels said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of this guest.

“We can confirm that the emergency services attended the hotel this morning and staff are cooperating with them as they investigate this matter.

“In the meantime, the hotel has been evacuated and will remain this way until further notice. For any further enquiries please contact West Midlands police.”

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said it had sent an ambulance, a paramedic and its Hazardous Area Response Team (Hart) to the Ibis Hotel after it was called at about 12.20pm.

He said: “We can confirm we received a call to the Ibis hotel in Mill Lane to an incident. Police are now investigating.”

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Man found dead at Coventry hotel was killed by lethal chemical

A huge police operation was launched around a Coventry hotel because a highly toxic chemical was found alongside the body of a man, an inquest has heard.

Officers, paramedics and hazardous substance experts were called to the Ibis Hotel, in Mile Lane, Cheylesmore, on January 9 to reports that a man had died.

At the time police were unable to say what prompted the huge response but, at the start of an inquest into the man’s death today, Coventry coroner Sean McGovern said a container labelled potassium cyanide had been found in his room.

The lethal chemical – used in jewellery manufacture and gold mining – has been used by a number of prominent individuals to commit suicide.

No verdict will be reached in this inquest until May, when the hearing will be resumed.

Yesterday, Mr McGovern identified the dead man as 28-year-old Kalveer Singh Chall, of Benedictine Road, Cheylesmore.

Mr Chall was a PhD chemistry student at the University of Warwick.

Mr McGovern said : “Mr Chall was found dead in room 15 of the Ibis Hotel in Mile Lane on January 9.

“In his room was found a container labelled potassium cyanide. As a result of that a post mortem examination took place.

“At the moment the cause of death is unascertained pending further testing of Mr Chall’s blood and his gastric contents.”

The inquest was opened this afternoon to allow Mr Chall’s family to make funeral arrangements.

The hearing will resume in May subject to Mr Chall’s family being available and further evidence being obtained.

“I offer my condolences to Mr Kalveer Singh Chall’s family and friends,” Mr McGovern added.

The hotel was evacuated and closed after Mr Chall’s body was discovered. Guests were moved to a nearby hotel.

The Ibis remained shut while investigations into his death continued, although police were quick to rule out foul play, stating his death was “not suspicious”. The hotel re-opened the following day.

At the time a spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “The room has been secured and the hotel has been evacuated as a precaution as specialist colleagues from partner emergency services are at the scene to ensure the safety of others.

“The death is being treated as unexplained at this time but early indications are that the death is not suspicious.”

The sale of potassium cyanide is heavily restricted in the UK.