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Egypt hotel deaths: UK post-mortems inconclusive
Post-mortems carried out in the UK on Thomas Cook agent Susan Cooper and her husband John have failed to find the cause of their deaths.
The couple died on a Thomas Cook holiday at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in the Egyptian resort of Hurghada last month.
Tests carried out by Egyptian authorities concluded their deaths were caused by E.coli bacteria, but this has been dismissed by the couple’s daughter Kelly Ormerod.
Solicitors acting for the couple’s family said further Home Office post mortems had proven inconclusive but further tests will be carried out.
The statement from Smith Jones solicitors said: "By way of update, we can confirm that a Home Office post mortem has now been carried out on John and Susan Cooper.
"Unfortunately, notwithstanding the ‘positive’, though contradictory, assertions of the Egyptian authorities, the results of that post mortem were inconclusive, and the pathologist was unable to ascertain the likely cause of death in either case.
"It is understood that further toxicological screening and other relevant tests will now be carried out as a matter of urgency to aid that process."
The statement said an inquest is to be opened tomorrow (Tuesday) and the family is certain the Coroner will undertake a rigorous investigation of all the circumstances surrounding the deaths to enable answers to be provided.
"Kelly and her family remain committed to establishing the true cause of John and Susan’s deaths and holding those responsible to account," it said.
"They look forward to assisting the Coroner in whatever way they can with what they acknowledge will be a difficult and complex task."
Thomas Cook’s own tests found a high level of E.coli at the hotel, which it has now stopped featuring in its Hurghada programme.
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Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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