Two women died and one man was in a coma on Monday after sealing themselves in a car and inhaling carbon monoxide in Japan's latest group suicide pact, police said.
A passer-by found the three, who have yet to be identified, in the compact car parked in a forest on the western island of Awaji, a local police spokesman said.
Police found burnt charcoal inside the car, whose windows were sealed with adhesive tape, the spokesman said, adding that police were investigating the case as a group suicide.
Japan has witnessed a growing number of suicide pacts -- many arranged among strangers on the Internet -- using charcoal burners in sealed cars often near peaceful sites such as mountains.
Police reported that 91 people died in online suicide pacts in 2005, up 65 percent from the previous year.