Police in Switzerland said that several people had been detained and a criminal case opened in connection with the suspected death of a person in a new, 3D-printed “suicide capsule”.

The Sarco pod, which has never been used before, is designed to allow a person sitting in a reclining seat inside to push a button or gesture to inject nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber.

The person is then supposed to fall asleep and die by suffocation in a few minutes.

Prosecutors in Schaffhausen canton was informed by a law firm that an “assisted suicide” involving the Sarco had taken place near a forest cabin in Merishausen, regional in northern part of the country police said in a statement.

While assisted dying is legally protected in some circumstances in Switzerland, the Sarco pod has encountered some opposition.

Officers recovered the device and body at the scene.

Thecompany behind the controversial podsays it can be solely operated by the person seeking to end their own life, without medical supervision.

Advocates say it provides an option not reliant on drugs or doctors, and that it expands access to euthanasia as the portable device can be 3D-printed and assembled at home.

However, there also has been opposition in Switzerland, despite the country having some of the world’s most protective laws surrounding assisted dying.

Critics fear the device’s modern design glamorises suicide and the fact that it can be operated without medical oversight is concerning.

Assisted dying remain illegal in the UK and in most other European countries.