2 Taipei interior decorators found dead inside ottoman bed

Taipei, Jan. 3 (CNA) Prosecutors said Wednesday they are investigating what caused the deaths of two interior decorators found inside an ottoman bed in an apartment in a new residential building in Taipei's Neihu District.

The two men, 24 and 27 years of age, were found dead around midnight Tuesday after losing contact with family members since late afternoon, the Taiwan Shilin District Prosecutors Office said.

According to a police report filed at 10:54 p.m. Tuesday, family members of the deceased entered the apartment with the help of the building's security, trying to find the men, who reportedly arrived at the site at 7:30 a.m.

Unable to find the men, the family members phoned them and heard ringtones coming from a bedroom inside the apartment.

The family members then found the two men's bodies inside an unfinished 63-centimeter tall, 179-cm long, 78-cm wide ottoman bed, prosecutors said.

There were neither apparent external injuries on the bodies nor signs of fighting at the scene, suggesting that it was unlikely there had been external intervention, prosecutors added.

While there was a strong smell of decorating materials in the room, follow-up tests showed no traces of toxic substances inside the apartment, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors added that they were collecting more evidence and using computer tomography to learn what killed the workers.

Meanwhile, the Taipei City government's Department of Labor said it was still working to determine whether to open an occupational safety investigation into the incident.