In Istanbul, poisoning suspected after visiting family dies

DW (English)

In Istanbul, a preliminary forensic report on the deaths of a Turkish-German family shows they were likely exposed to toxic chemicals at their hotel. The family of four from Hamburg fell ill on holiday and later died.

Transcript

00:00The Buzek family had been staying in this hotel in Istanbul's old town

00:06when both parents and their two children fell ill last week.

00:12This footage shows them taking a taxi to the nearest hospital.

00:18Within a few days, all four of them were dead.

00:23Investigators initially thought they'd died from food poisoning.

00:28They suspected the source could have come from eateries in a tourist neighbourhood

00:32the family from Hamburg had visited, or from their hotel.

00:37The management, though, has denied any involvement.

00:43While the inspectors are inside, we can't talk.

00:47We're confident about our hotel.

00:50We don't offer any food here. We're not giving any interviews.

00:53We only offer bottled water here. Nothing else.

01:00Several food vendors were detained, but tests found no trace of contamination.

01:06Then two more people staying at the same hotel were hospitalised, with similar symptoms.

01:13Local media reported that a room below the family's had been sprayed with pesticides to kill bedbugs.

01:23It's suspected that the fumes could have reached the family's room through a bathroom vent.

01:29Medical experts believe the pesticides may have included the toxic chemical aluminium phosphide.

01:41If aluminium phosphide combines with air, a biochemical reaction produces phosphine gas.

01:53And this phosphine gas is truly toxic.

01:56It's a derivative of a gas used as a chemical weapon.

02:02News of the deaths has spread.

02:04The knock-on effect to tourism is being felt across Istanbul.

02:12Inevitably, reservation cancellations have occurred.

02:16We've heard from everyone, inevitably, that hotel occupancy rates are falling.

02:22And the parallel decline in business for our tourism agency business has had a significant impact.

02:30God willing, all sectors will find their footing.

02:33But not everyone has cancelled their visit.

02:40We arrived yesterday from Germany.

02:42And before we just heard about that some people from Hamburg were poisoned here and they died.

02:52And we were very worried about it.

02:55And we asked us, can we go?

02:58But we decided to go.

02:59We were not so anxious.

03:00The hotel at the center of the investigation remains sealed off.

03:07Several more people have been detained in connection with the deaths.

03:12The hotel at the battlefield.

03:18This is the hotel, may be the alert in, too.

03:19We are at the Öyle-l kid.

03:20The hotel at the airport is operating.

03:24The hotel.

03:25We are at the hotel at the right of the beach.

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