Egypt hotel deaths – scores of ill guests return to UK claiming ‘no one can tell them’ why they’re still sick

DOZENS of guests at the Egypt hotel where a British couple mysteriously died on Tuesday have returned to the UK - and claimed they also fell ill during their stay.

Some 100 guests arrived back at Manchester Airport in the early hours of this morning and blasted officials for keeping them in the dark about the cause of their illnesses.

John Cooper, 69, and his 64-year-old wife Susan, from Burnley, died at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel in Hurghada on Egypt's Red Sea coast on Tuesday.

It comes as a lawyer today claimed the Coopers' deaths "smacked of a cover up" and their daughter Kelly described it as "suspicious".

One tourist told that a Thomas Cook rep told them the deaths were caused by "carbon monoxide coming through the air vent" - though the company says there is no evidence of this.

Dale Watson, 38, from Newcastle, said: "Five of us fell ill, we thought it was food poisoning, but no one really knows the truth.

"I hardly had a drink, I ate nothing for two days. I was projectile vomiting. In the end we just wanted to get out of there."

Victoria Cocklin, 31, from Sunderland, said: "My three year-old son Harry has been poorly, he has been sick all over the place. He has been suffering from sickness and diarrhoea.

"We were told by one of the Thomas Cook reps that the deaths were caused by carbon monoxide coming through the air vent."

It comes as the Egyptian public prosecutor today said that engineers have concluded that "all equipment was sound and that there was no leakage or emission of any poisonous or harmful gases", adding that "all equipment was working properly and had no faults".

Meanwhile, Nick Harris, Head of Travel at Simpson Millar solicitors, echoed Kelly's claim that their deaths were suspicious.

He told The Sun Online today: "It smacks of a cover up. I think it could be either carbon monoxide poisoning, food poisoning or water poisoning.

He noted Egyptian authorities would be desperate not to further damage the country's tourism industry following several incidents in recent years that have scared visitors away.

"Something has definitely happened. That poor girl is literally stranded in Egypt at the minute."

Thomas Cook has not responded to his claims this morning - but yesterday warned against speculation surrounding the pair's deaths.

Yesterday safety experts also branded the hotel an "accident waiting to happen" and a "repeat offender" with hygiene standards that have have been questionable for a long time.

Nick said that he had dealt with more than 40 cases of alleged illness at the Hurghada hotel - 20 of which are still ongoing.

He said: "Unfortunately I am not surprised. This is very concerning and people are rightly worried. Standards have been slipping and the initial indications are people have paid with their lives.

"This hotel has been a repeat offender with illness and obviously they have not cleaned up their act. Tour operators need to do much more to protect their customers when abroad."

And Paul McClorry, head of Travel Litigation at Hudgell Solicitors, said: "Prior to this week’s events, we were already representing and investigating a number of illness cases at this resort.

"We believe a full and systematic review of its health and safety processes needs to take place.

"Some of these cases date back to April of this year, which draws into question this hotel’s hygiene standards for a significant period of time - during which hundreds of people will have stayed here on holiday.

"Therefore the hotel’s hygiene procedures need to be very carefully considered for the entirety of this period."

He added that his company was currently representing three claimants and assessing another three to see if there is enough evidence to take action.

Health and safety expert Allen Wilson said: "Sadly this was an accident waiting to happen. In many cases instead of using experts like myself tour operators have now been using local reps to manage health and safety."

Yesterday John and Susan's daughter Kelly Ormerod said: "I believe that something suspicious has gone on.

"I don't believe anybody has entered the room, but something has happened in that room for them both to be taken away from me.

"I watched them both die before my very eyes, and they had exactly the same symptoms."

It comes as many other tourists came forward yesterday to share images with The Sun Online of raw chicken they say the hotel served them.

Paul Vanstone, 41, was on holiday with his wife, mum and two kids when four of them were struck down with stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Paul, from Oxford, said: "There was a party of six of us that went.

"My wife was treated for gastroenteritis, my 16-year-old daughter went down with a vomiting and diarrhoea bug and two days before leaving I had really bad stomach cramps and diarrhoea."

And fellow guest Alison Cope, from Birmingham, said she has been at the hotel for two weeks, and five out of seven of her family members have been ill for around 10 days.

The 44-year-old, who flies home on Friday evening, said that other guests had been ill, saying: "The food is just disgusting, it's under-cooked. I know so many people have been ill.

"Half the time we don't know what it is and can't eat it because it's raw in the middle. We've spent almost two weeks at a five-star hotel eating bread and chips because we at least know what it is."

Thomas Cook told The Sun Online: "We are aware that a number of customers have come forward to say they have experienced illness while staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada, Egypt.

"We are very sorry for any customers whose holidays have been spoiled.

"We take all illness very seriously and have taken the decision to expand our ongoing investigation into the sudden deaths of two of our customers at the Steigenberger earlier this week to include any other customer reports of illness at the hotel this summer.

"As part of this, we plan to contact every Thomas Cook customer that has returned from staying at the hotel in the last three days.

"We are also putting a dedicated team together to prioritise all complaints from this hotel."

A spokesperson also said yesterday: "The circumstances of their deaths remain unclear. We are aware of the speculation in some of today’s media that their deaths may have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.

"Currently we have no evidence to support this."

Yesterday Deutsche Hospitality, the company which oversees the Steigenberger hotel franchise, released a statement saying they were saddened by the couple's deaths.

Dieter Geiger, General Manager at Aqua Magic, said: "In such a circumstance, very little can be said that will help. This makes it even more important to stick to the facts.

"The doctor’s preliminary report indicates that death was due to natural causes. There are no indications to support allegations of an increased incidence of illness at the hotel.

"Such rash speculations should urgently be put aside out of respect for the family members of the deceased persons and for other guests."

The company has not responded to today's claims of a cover up, or the historic food poisoning allegations.

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