A British couple who died in an Egyptian resort under mysterious circumstances were staying in a hotel room next to a hotel room that had been fumigated hours earlier with chemicals to kill bugs, according to a report.
John Cooper, 69, and his wife, Susan, 63, died on August 21, 2018, while on vacation at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada.
Their deaths prompted travel company Thomas Cook to evacuate 300 guests from the hotel as a precaution.
The couple’s daughter, Kelly Ormerod, said she was suspicious because her parents were in good health before the trip — and she believed “something in that room” killed them.
Initial expert reports suggested carbon monoxide poisoning or food poisoning did not claim their lives, but cited possible exposure to “infectious biological agents or toxic chemicals,” the Guardian reported.
But Dominik Bibi, a German tourist, said in a statement during the inquest that he reported a bedbug infestation in a room next to the Coopers, according to the outlet.
John and Susan Cooper were staying in a hotel room next to a hotel room that had been fumigated hours earlier with chemicals to kill bed bugs, an inquest heard. Blue Sky Hotel/Facebook
The room was treated with Lambda, a synthetic insecticide used for pest control – the day before Coopers, from Burnley, Lancashire, fell ill and died.
The two rooms have adjoining doors that remain locked.
The Coopers had traveled with Ormerod, their three grandchildren and their friends, the Guardian reported. Ormerod’s daughter Molly, then 12, was staying in a single bed in the couple’s room and had complained of a “yeast smell”.
At 1 a.m., John Cooper said Molly felt sick and he took her to her mother’s room upstairs.
In the morning, Ormerod went to check on his parents and found them very ill.
The couple’s daughter, Kelly Ormerod, has said she suspects something in their room killed them.AP
“She really slumped and sat on the edge of the bed and said, ‘I’m really not feeling well’,” Ormerod told the hearing about her father, adding that her mother was “moaning” in bed with vomit in her hair and around the room.
The two called doctors are in “panic mode” while John Cooper struggles to breathe.
“His eyes were like … melancholy, staring,” Ormerod said, crying, according to the outlet.
John Cooper was pronounced dead at the scene after CPR was administered, while Susan died later in hospital.
Bibi, the German guest, told the trial that she noticed a “funny smell, like mold or dampness” in the next room, where her mother-in-law lived.
“There were a lot of bugs on the bed and under it,” he said, adding that a hotel worker and night manager apologized before taking his mother-in-law to another room down the hall.
The Cooper’s are staying at The Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.steigenbergeraldauresort.com
Bibi said she then saw a worker with a barrel of pesticide that she assumed was used to kill bugs.
He said masking tape was used to cover the room and the door, but he added in the statement: “I wouldn’t say the work was very professional.”
In addition to the couple’s deaths, it also emerged at the time that 13 other hotel guests suffered food poisoning. The hotel told The Associated Press in 2018 that there was no increased level of illness there and attributed the couple’s deaths to “natural causes.”
Prosecutors in Egypt have dismissed speculation that toxic fumes in the Coopers’ room killed the couple. An official inspection of the room found no dangerous leaks, they said.
An official statement by the governor of the Red Sea said at the time that John’s initial medical examination showed he had suffered acute circulatory collapse and a sudden cardiac arrest. It is said that Susan then fainted and was rushed to the hospital.
The trial is expected to continue Wednesday.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
