Coroner names bedbug pesticide as cause of death of British tourists in Egypt

A British couple died from carbon monoxide poisoning while on holiday at a luxury resort in Egypt after a pesticide was sprayed in an adjacent room to kill bed bugs, a coroner has found.

According to CNN, John and Susan Cooper were staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada in August 2018 when the room next to theirs was sprayed with the pesticide Lambda to control insects, British media reported. In some countries, this pesticide is diluted with a substance called dichloromethane, which causes the body to metabolize or absorb carbon monoxide.

The sanitized room, which was sealed with duct tape around the door, was reportedly connected to their room by an adjacent door.

The couple returned to their room for the night, but the next day their daughter discovered that they were seriously ill. John Cooper, 69, was pronounced dead at the hotel, while his wife Susan, 63, died hours later in hospital.

On the first day of a two-day investigative hearing, a German tourist said he reported a bed bug infestation in an adjacent room whose adjoining door was locked. The next day the room was treated with Lambda pesticide.

German Dominik Bibi, who arrived at the Egyptian hotel early in the morning of August 20, 2018, said that his mother-in-law had booked room 5106, next door to the Coopers. “Upon entering, I immediately felt a strange smell, similar to the smell of mold or dampness,” testifies a tourist from Germany. “There were a lot of bed bugs in and under the bed.”

Beebe said he later saw three men, one of whom was holding a canister of pesticides, which he assumed were used to get rid of bedbugs. He added that after about five or 10 minutes, workers came out of the room and sealed it with duct tape.

“I wouldn’t say the job was very professional,” Dominic Beebe continued, adding that the hotel’s air conditioning was not working that day and the cleaning lady told the family that work was being done on the system. He also said that he and other family members were unwell, but he expected this during his holiday in Egypt.

Dr James Adeleli, senior coroner for the English county of Lancashire, ruled that the death was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of inhalation of fumes from the spraying of a pesticide containing dichloromethane, PA reports.

“To this day, our family struggles to understand what happened,” the couple’s daughter Kelly Ormerod, who was on holiday with her parents at the time, said in a statement following the investigation. “This should never have happened.”

She said “nothing can make up for the pain and loss we have experienced since that day,” adding: “The last few years have been the most traumatic and emotional time for all of us.”

Kelly Ormerod said her parents were fit and healthy for their age and enjoyed a “brilliant” holiday with her, their three grandchildren and family friends. Her mother, who worked as a cashier, had previously visited the same hotel in April 2018, describing it as “fabulous” and wanted to take the whole family there again. On the evening of August 20, they all went to the hotel’s restaurant and bar before heading to bed.

Ormerod’s daughter Molly, then 12, slept on a single bed in the Coopers’ room, which she said “smelled of yeast.” At 1 a.m. John Cooper called to say she was not feeling well and took her back to her mother’s room upstairs. The next day Mr and Mrs Cooper were absent from breakfast and their daughter discovered they were seriously ill, saying her father came to the door and said “I really don’t feel well” as he vomited.

The woman told the hearing that her mother was lying in bed, “moaning,” with vomit in her hair and all over the room, where she noticed a strange “heavy” smell.

Two doctors were called but Kelly Ormerod said they acted in “panic mode” as her parents appeared to be getting worse and her father found it difficult to breathe. Ormerod added: “His eyes had a kind of… glassy, ​​intense look.”

John Cooper was pronounced dead on the floor of the hotel room while his wife was taken to the hotel clinic where she was “very agitated” and delirious, the inquest was told. The woman, who was taken to the hospital by ambulance, died soon after.

Both deceased tourists were repatriated to the UK in sealed galvanized coffins.