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BRITAIN-EGYPT-TOURISM
Thomas Cook removes Egypt hotel guests after UK couple dies
LONDON, Aug 24, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – British tour operator Thomas Cook said it
is removing all its customers from a hotel in Egypt after a UK couple staying
there died in unexplained circumstances and other guests fell ill.
The company said late Thursday it was unclear what caused the deaths of the
Britons, reportedly in their 60s, who had been staying at the Steigenberger
Aqua Magic Hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.
Thomas Cook added in a statement that all of its other customers staying at
the Steigenberger, reported to be 301 by the BBC, had the choice of
relocating to another hotel in Hurghada or returning home.
It said it was “deeply saddened” by the deaths of the two guests.
“The circumstances of their deaths are still unclear,” Thomas Cook said.
“We have also received further reports of a raised level of illness among
guests. Safety is always our first priority, so as a precautionary measure we
have taken a decision to remove all our customers from this hotel.”
Red Sea governor Ahmad Abdallah told AFP that the couple, who were on
holiday with their daughter, had died on Tuesday.
The BBC identified them as John Cooper, 69, and his wife Susan, 63, a
Thomas Cook employee. The couple were from the town of Burnley, northwest
England.
Abdallah said the man died in hospital after suffering exhaustion, followed
by his wife who collapsed at the hotel on hearing the news.
The governor ruled out “criminal motive”.
Thomas Cook said customers due to travel in the coming weeks to the hotel –
– which the tour operator gave a 96-percent rating in an audit last month —
would be offered alternative holidays.
Egypt’s key tourism industry has been recovering from a devastating blow in
2015 when jihadists bombed a Russian airliner carrying holidaymakers from the
Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 on board.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1447 hrs