*SUICIDE MACHINE*

NITSCHKE'S 'suicide machine' draws crowds at Amsterdam funeral fair.

A controversial suicide pod that enables its occupant to kill themselves at a press of button went on display at Amsterdam Funeral show on Saturday,

Called the ''Sarco'' short for sarcophagus, the 3-D-printed machine invented by Australian euthanasia activist Philip Nitschke and Dutch designer Alexander Bannink comes-

With a detachable coffin, mounted on a stand that contains a nitrogen canister.

''The person who wants to die presses the button and the capsule is filled nitrogen.

He or she will feel a bit dizzy but will then rapidly lose consciousness and die,'' said Nitschke, who has been dubbed ''Dr. Death'' for his work to legalise euthanasia.

The  ''Sarco'' is a device  ''to provide people with a death when they wish to die,'' Nitschke told AFP.

The inventor put a model of the device on display, together with a set of virtual reality glasses to give visitors a true-to-life experience of what it would be like to sit in the pod, before ultimately pressing the button.

Nitschke said he aimed to build the the first fully-functioning pod before the end of the year. After that the design will be put online as an open-source document for people to download.

That means that anybody who wants to build the machine can download the plans and  3-D -print  their own device,'' Nitschke said. [Agencies]

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