British tourist, 21, 'shot himself dead with hired gun at firing range in Thailand'

 
Unverified CCTV footage purportedly shows a staff member holding his head in his hands in the aftermath of the incident (Picture: YouTube)
Robin de Peyer21 March 2015

The Foreign Office was today investigating reports that a British tourist shot himself using a hired gun at a firing range in Thailand.

The 21-year-old man shot himself in the head with a pistol in Phuket, according to reports in Thailand.

He is thought to have hired the weapon at the Thalang Shooting Range where he is said to have begun firing shots at a target before turning the gun on himself.

Footage purporting to be taken from CCTV of the incident appears to show a man firing several times at a target before suddenly shooting himself.

The video apparently shows an instructor desperately try to step in and stop him firing before the man appears to take his own life. The instructor is then seen turning away and holding his head in his hands in horror.

The Evening Standard could not immediately confirm the veracity of the footage.

Thai news outlet Phuketwan quoted a staff member from the firing range as saying: "He came by a taxi. He bought a ticket for shooting a 11mm handgun and then shot himself in the head."

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are urgently working with authorities in Thailand to establish whether a British national has died in Phuket."

Anyone experiencing mental health problems can contact The Samaritans.

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