Mum and two children die after suspected poisoning at hotel in Turkey
Her husband remains in hospital and two other tourists were taken to hospital for treatment
A mother and her two children have died of suspected poisoning while on holiday. The Böcek couple and their children were taken to hospital with nausea and vomiting.
After initial treatment, they were discharged. But later, back at the hotel, the couple noticed their three-year-old daughter, Masal, lying motionless. The family was taken to hospital again by ambulance.
Despite doctors’ efforts, neither Masal nor her six-year-old brother, Kadir Muhammet, could be saved. Their mother, 27-year-old Çiğdem, died in intensive care on Friday morning. Her husband, 36-year-old Servet, remains in hospital. He is unconscious and intubated, according to reports.
The family of four - German citizens living in Hamburg - had arrived in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 9 and were staying at a hotel in the Fatih district. After two other tourists at the same hotel were taken to hospital with suspected poisoning, the building was evacuated and sealed.
The pair were treated for nausea and vomiting and are no longer in danger. Four people from establishments where the Böcek family ate have been taken into custody, along with the hotel owner and a pest control company owner and employee.
Pest control had recently been carried out in a ground-floor room at the hotel, and investigators are examining the chemicals used. Çiğdem and her children were laid to rest in Bolvadin, Afyonkarahisar Province, over the weekend.
Servet’s uncle, Recep Yılmaz, told local media: “Çiğdem asked about her husband and children, and they told her they were ‘fine’. Two hours later, they said, ‘Our condolences.’ Çiğdem then passed away. My nephew is still fighting for his life. The guilty must be punished.”