Several people are arrested in Switzerland in connection with a suspected death in a “suicide capsule”

GENEVA (AP) — Police in northern Switzerland said Tuesday that several people had been arrested and criminal proceedings had been opened in connection with the suspected death of a person in a new “suicide capsule.”

The “Sarco” capsule, which has never been used before, is designed so that a person sitting in a reclining seat inside it can press a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber. The person is then supposed to fall asleep and die of suffocation within a few minutes.

The public prosecutor's office in the canton of Schaffhausen was informed by a law firm that an “assisted suicide” involving the Sarco had taken place on Monday near a forest hut in Merishausen, the regional police said in a statement. It said “several people” had been taken into custody and the public prosecutor's office had opened an investigation on suspicion of incitement and aiding and abetting suicide.

According to a Swiss government website, assisted suicide is permitted under Swiss law as long as the person takes their own life without “external assistance” and the person helping them die does not do so for “selfish motives.”

___ EDITOR'S NOTE — This story also discusses suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, you can call or text the U.S. National Suicide and Crisis Hotline at 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.orgThe Swiss government refers inquiries about suicide prevention to a group called “Dargebotene Hand”.

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Unlike in some other countries, including the Netherlands, euthanasia is not permitted in Switzerland. This involves patients being killed by lethal injection by medical staff upon request and under certain circumstances.

Switzerland is one of the few countries in the world where foreigners can travel to legally end their lives, and there are numerous organizations dedicated to assisting people in committing suicide.

Some Swiss legislators argue that the law is unclear and are trying to close so-called legal loopholes.

The Dutch newspaper Volkskrant reported on Tuesday that the police had arrested one of their photographers who was trying to photograph the Sarco operation. Schaffhausen police said the photographer was being held at a police station, but declined to comment further.

When asked by AP, the newspaper declined further comment.

Exit International, a Netherlands-based assisted suicide organization, has said it is behind the 3D-printed device, which cost over a million dollars to develop.

In a statement, the group said that a 64-year-old woman from the US Midwest – further details were not given – who suffered from “severe immune deficiency” died on Monday afternoon near the German border as a result of use of the Sarco device.

Florian Willet, co-president of The Last Resort, a Swiss branch of Exit International, was said to be the only person present and described her death as “peaceful, quick and dignified”.

Dr. Philip Nitschke, an Australian-born and trained doctor behind Exit International, previously told the AP that his organization had been advised by lawyers in Switzerland that the use of Sarco was legal in the country.

In Exit International's statement on Tuesday, Nitschke said he was “delighted that the Sarco has worked exactly as it was designed … to enable a voluntary, drug-free and peaceful death at a time of the patient's choosing.”

On Monday, Health Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider was questioned in the Swiss parliament about the legal conditions for the use of the Sarco capsule and said that its use was not legal.

“On the one hand, it does not meet the requirements of the Product Safety Act and therefore may not be placed on the market,” she said. “On the other hand, the corresponding use of nitrogen is not compatible with the purpose article of the Chemicals Act.”

In July, the Swiss daily newspaper “Blick” reported that Peter Sticher, public prosecutor in Schaffhausen, had informed Exit International's lawyers in a letter that anyone who used the suicide capsule there would face criminal proceedings – and, if convicted, up to five years in prison.

Prosecutors in other Swiss regions have also pointed out that the use of the suicide capsule could lead to criminal prosecution.

In the summer, a 54-year-old American woman with numerous health problems had planned to be the first person to use the device. However, these plans were abandoned.

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Associated Press writers Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.