Nightmares caused the death of 18 Laotian Refugees

On a report published on May, 10 1981 by the NYTime, 18 Laotian refugees were reportedly killed by a nightmare. Federal Center for Disease Control was conducting a thorough examination about the death of 18 Laotian refugees in four years.  One of the cause they are looking at is that they were frightened by a nightmare while they were sleeping.

Surprsingly, unlike similar cases, this case involves a young Laotian woman.  The 17 men and a woman was a member of a Laotian group called the Hmong.  Most of the refugees went to United States to escape after it was overrun by Pathet Lao on 1975. By the time that the incident happened, there were at least 35,000 Hmong living in the US.

Members of Hmong grew up in a very isolated place like the Indian tribes.  Aside from that , very few of them can speak the English language.  The death of those 18 Laotian remained a mystery.  The deaths were said to be associated with irregular heartbeats and “probable cardiac Arrhythmia”.

Dr. Roy Baron said that their deaths can be caused by a nightmare but they cannot still give a distinct conclusion.  There were no foul plays, accidents or suicide, apparently the 18 Laotian just died while they were sleeping.  Doctors said that they could pinpoint the reason why they didn’t die but they could not uncover the reason why they die.