The forensic report on the suspected poisoning death of a family of four German tourists of Turkish descent from Hamburg indicates that they most likely came into contact with a chemical substance.
The family traveled from Germany to Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, and began feeling unwell after sampling various street foods in the Ortaköy waterfront district under the Bosphorus Bridge last week.
According to Turkey’s Cumhuriyet newspaper citing the forensic report, based on samples taken from the mother and two children, it is “unlikely” that their deaths were caused by food poisoning.
The report states that it is preliminarily believed their deaths were mainly caused by chemical poisoning related to the environment in their hotel, though a final conclusion can only be drawn after further analysis is completed.
Local media previously reported that pesticide had been sprayed in a first-floor hotel room to control bedbugs, and it is possible that it entered the family’s second-floor room through the bathroom ventilation ducts. The two children died on the 13th, the mother the following day, and the father was declared dead on the 17th after treatment in the intensive care unit.
The hotel in question is located in the Fatih district near Istanbul’s old city. On the 15th, the hotel was evacuated after two other guests showed similar symptoms and were sent to the hospital. On the 16th, the hotel was sealed off.