AUSTIN, Texas – Police believe that a college student who died in an Austin apartment building of hydrogen sulfide poisoning committed suicide using a “sewer gas” concoction.

The Austin Fire Department evacuated an apartment building near the University of Texas at Austin campus around 2: 30 p.m. Wednesday after finding a sign on the door of one apartment reading “Danger: Watch out, hydrogen sulfide” and a man in his 20s inside in cardiac arrest, KXAN reports.

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AFD Division Chief Palmer Buck told the news site initial tests confirmed hydrogen sulfide, commonly known as “sewer gas,” inside the apartment. Officials immediately donned hazmat gear, removed the man, and cleared the building.

“Crews quickly started ventilation and going door to door to make sure everyone was okay,” he said.

The man in the apartment died, and a statement from the apartment’s management contends he was a student, though it did not specify what school he attended. UT Austin issued a statement that “most of the residents of 21 Pearl are UT Austin students.”

Officials are continuing to investigate the incident but suspect it was a suicide.

“This is not an uncommon method of suicide,” Buck said. “You can search on the internet to see some of the different ways this is done.”

People who live in the 316-unit building said they smelled sulfur evacuating, and several were treated for exposure, the New York Daily News reports.

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“I’ve smelled sulfur before and it smells like rotten eggs, and that’s what I smelled, so I didn’t think it was anything too major. I thought it was maybe a minor gas leak or something and apparently it was a lot bigger than that,” Jacob Hood told KXAN.

The apartment manager and five others were taken to the hospital, while five more people were treated at the scene.

Francoise Luca, spokesman for the apartment building, said residents initially reported the foul smell around 2 p.m., and apartment staff found the student unconscious and called police.

“Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the family and friends of the deceased,” Luca said. “The safety and well being of our residents and staff is our first priority, and we will be cooperating with the authorities to resolve this situation as quickly as possible.”

The Daily News points out that Japan faced a massive epidemic of suicide attempts by “sewer gas” in 2008 that ultimately killed 208 people, including relatives of those who created a deadly concoction of bath additives and toilet detergent.

“This fad has rapidly spread by Internet communication, and can happen anywhere in the world,” according to a 2010 study in the Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology cited by the Daily News.

NBC News also likened the apparent suicide in Austin to a similar death by sewer gas incident in California in 2009.

In that case, a 23-year-old man killed himself in his car at a Pasadena shopping center by rolling up the windows and locking the doors before he started the deadly brew. He also posted a warning sign in the car’s window, according to the news site.