When you book into a hotel you normally expect to find an item or two left behind by the previous occupant, especially if the cleaners haven’t done the perfect job of tidying up.

But for one tourist in Tibet, a strong smell in his room wasn’t an errant item of underwear, with the discovery leading to a police investigation and the arrest of a suspect. The Chinese tourist, identified only as a Mr Zhang, later discovered the smell was due to a corpse being discovered under the bed where he had slept for several hours, only leaving the room later when the stench proved too much.

He was later informed that a murder investigation had been launched, and a suspect had been arrested. The events proved too much for Mr Zhang who chose to depart Lhasa – around 100 miles north of the border with Bhutan – a few hours later.

Mr Zhang even left a review online, explaining the events of the night, which alerted local media, the hotel initially issuing a denial. Local police have not revealed full details, but a video was released of a suspect being arrested on a train to Lanzhou City.

Despite the review, Mr Zhang was reluctant to go public on the matter until the hotel rejected his claim, and he was accused on social media of making it all up. Speaking about the events to Shangyou News, he said: “I am very scared and I am still struggling to sleep.”