Daughter dismisses official reports parents’ deaths in Egypt caused by e.coli

The grieving daughter of the British couple who died in a hotel on a Thomas Cook holiday in Egypt has dismissed official reports her parents were killed by e.coli.

Mother-of-three Kelly Ormerod said she had “no faith” in the authorities in Egypt and did not believe e.coli killed her parents, John and Susan Cooper.

The 40-year-old, from Burnley, Lancashire, said she was still waiting for answers until Home Office post-mortem examinations, scheduled for tomorrow, took place.

Earlier today, Egypt’s chief prosecutor Nabil Sadek said forensic examinations showed Mr Cooper, 69, suffered acute intestinal dysentery caused by e.coli, and his wife Mrs Cooper, 63, suffered a complication linked to infection, likely to have been caused by e.coli.

He said the bodies of the couple from Burnley, Lancashire, who died on August 21, showed “no criminal violence”.

Other tests of air and water at the hotel found nothing unusual, he added.

Egypt’s minister of tourism, Rania Al-Mashat, said: “The causes of death, e.coli bacteria, were medically determined by a team of internationally accredited pathologists, which I hope for the family’s sake will put an end to previous speculative suggestions of what might have happened.”

But Mrs Ormerod, who was staying at the same hotel with her children, said: “I have not seen evidence or facts of any e.coli.

“Thomas Cook put a report out that there were high levels of e.coli at the hotel. Whether the Egyptians have honed in on that, I have no idea.

“But anybody can Google what e.coli symptoms are and the progression of e.coli and it does not kill you within a matter of hours.

“They are either stuck for answers or don’t want to tell the truth.

“They are obviously aware this is having a very negative effect on tourism.”

She added: “I don’t know what tests they have done. The report I have seen, from the media, not sent to me, was very, very brief. I don’t know of any tests they have done.

“Have toxicology reports been done? They do take quite a long time to come back. Have they got them?

“Exactly what have they tested for?

“They have not actually sent a report that I know of to say, ‘We have tested this and ruled it out, we have tested for that and ruled it out’.

“This is why I have no faith whatsoever in the Egyptian authorities, especially knowing the way I was treated out there.

“There’s definitely going to be Home Office post-mortems over here. That’s scheduled for tomorrow, but they can’t say a hundred per cent it will be tomorrow.”

The Coopers died on August 21 while staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

Thomas Cook revealed last week that it had identified a high level of e.coli bacteria at the hotel, which would “explain the raised level of illness reported among guests”.

But the firm said the independent specialists it commissioned to carry out the tests – and Dr Vanya Gant from University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – did not believe the results “shed any light” on the cause of the Coopers’ deaths.

Thomas Cook moved 300 guests out of the hotel 24 hours after the couple died as a precaution.

A Thomas Cook spokesman said: “Thomas Cook notes the announcement today by the Egyptian prosecutor on the results of the autopsies of John and Susan Cooper following their deaths at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic in Hurghada on August 21 2018.

“We have not yet seen the full report and we will need time for our own experts to review it.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of John and Susan Cooper. We will continue to offer every support to their daughter Kelly and the rest of their family.”