Pesticide? Poisoning? Dodgy air con? Botulism? Four theories about what happened in Thomas Cook hotel room where Brit couple died

WHAT caused the death of John and Susan Cooper at a Thomas Cook hotel in Egypt remains a mystery.

The bodies of Mr Cooper, 69, and his 64-year-old wife were found in their room at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

Officials first insisted the couple, from Burnley, Lancashire, died of natural causes, claiming John had suffered a heart attack while his wife died of “grief” from the shock.

Friends of the couple have also speculated they were killed by high levels of carbon monoxide in their room, or even from food poisoning after other guests allegedly complained of being unwell.

However, authorities later revealed the couple fell ill after suffering "respiratory failure".

A Thomas Cook spokesman said: "We are deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of two of our customers who were staying in the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada, Egypt.

"The circumstances of their deaths remain unclear. Thomas Cook is doing everything to support the family and the Egyptian authorities to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.”

Bed bug pesticide

One theory is that the deaths could have been caused by the use of bed bug pesticides.

The death of pensioners George Everitt, 78, and his wife Eileen, 73, in Thailand has been attributed to the use of a chemical spray in their hotel room.

The couple were found dead in their hotel rooms in the tourist resort of Chang Mai.

Thai authorities said Mr and Mrs Everitt had suffered heart attacks within minutes of each other, despite family members in Britain insisting they had no history of heart problems.

Their deaths came less than two weeks after that of Sarah Carter, 23, a New Zealander who had been staying at the same hotel.

Now experts have told The Sun Online pesticides could be behind the deaths of the Coopers.

Professor Joel Coats from Iowa State University said: "I think there is certainly a possibility that fumigation of hotel rooms could explain the deaths and illnesses reported."

Dr Reynold A. Panettieri, from the Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine and Science, told The Sun Online pre-existing medical conditions could have an impact on their deaths.

He added: "But from what I read they were absolutely healthy then suddenly died in the hotel it sounds like some sort of toxin exposure.

"I don't know in the Egypt hotel whether they could correlate the timing and temporal exposure to pesticides, but that would be my guess.

"The investigation should be around what kinds of pesticides were used, or what kinds of pesticides were used in adjacent rooms or the room where the subjects were in. From then, you start to look at the individual agents."

And Ron McDowall, a former UN chemicals expert, said: "I saw an interview with guests who indicated that room fumigation occurred every day at 6pm.

"If the fumigation rate is correct it would seem excessive and inappropriate.

He added: "Of note is that Egypt still use Chlorpyifos in their insecticides sprays but may have absolutely no bearing in this case."

Food poisoning

Food poisoning is a common occurrence in hotels and there have been allegations of undercooked food served at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic.

Dozens of guests who arrived back at Manchester Airport at the weekend claimed they also fell ill during their stay.

Botulism is an extreme form of food poisoning and can result paralysis or death.

Death from food poisoning can occur to people regardless of their age or physical condition.

Natalie Rawnsley tragically died after eating just one mouthful of undercooked chicken from a hotel restaurant.

The 37-year-old healthy mum-of-two was holidaying on the island of Corfu when tragedy struck.

Air conditioning

Prior to the deaths, holiday makers complained about illnesses including headaches, breathing difficulties and fluid on the lungs.

A British doctor has reportedly said the symptoms appear consistent with Legionnaire’s disease, a lung condition that can be carried by contaminated water in air conditioning units.

Last year an outbreak of legionnaires' disease in Spain killed a British tourist and left 19 others ill.

Health chiefs investigating the outbreak in Palmanova, which neighbours party hotspot Magaluf, found that 26 foreign tourists were among the 27 struck down by the bug.

Over the years there have also many cases of carbon monoxide poisoning in hotels.

But the authorities in Egypt were quick to deny that was the cause.

The country’s prosecutor said "all equipment was sound and that there was no leakage or emission of any poisonous or harmful gases".

"All equipment was working properly and had no faults.”

Swimming Pool

Warnings have recently been sounded about the build-up of bacteria in swimming pools.

It was reported that some guests at the hotel suffered such uncontrollable diarrhoea that they defecated in the swimming pool on three separate occasions.

The hotel was unable to prevent other guests from jumping in unaware that the pools had yet to be disinfected.

A recent report revealed eight Americans died and 30,000 made ill by bacteria in hotel pools between 2000 and 2014.

The majority of illnesses were caused by a parasite called cryptosporidium which can survive normal chlorine levels.

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