German family arrives in Istanbul for dream holiday but days later they’re all dead, and many are looking at what the hotel staff sprayed

A family of four from Hamburg, Germany has died while on holiday in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bocek family checked into the Harbour Suit Hotel on November 9, hoping to enjoy a nice vacation together.

According to The Sun, Cigdem and Servet Bocek brought their two young kids, 3-year-old Masal and 6-year-old Kadir Muhammet, to explore the city. They ate at different restaurants and food stalls around Istanbul during their trip.

Just two days after arriving, on November 11, the whole family went to the hospital because they felt really sick. They were throwing up, feeling dizzy, and had bad nausea. “First suspected as food poisoning,” police now think deadly gas from bug spray got into their hotel room and poisoned them.

The pesticide leak that changed everything

The family left the hospital and went back to their hotel, but things got much worse. Cigdem and both of her children died, while Servet was rushed to Cemil Taskcioglu Hospital and put in intensive care. He stayed there fighting for his life for six days before he also passed away.

Police think the problem started when workers sprayed poison on the ground floor of the hotel to kill bedbugs. The deadly gas traveled through the bathroom air vents and went into the family’s room. As the investigation into the Istanbul family’s suspected poisoning expanded, officers have now arrested eleven people connected to what happened.

At first, police arrested four people who sold food to the family, including someone who sold stuffed mussels, Turkish delight, kokorec, and a cafe owner. Then they arrested seven more people who worked at the hotel. Police are checking if a chemical called aluminium phosphide killed the family. This chemical is used to kill bugs and pests, but it can kill people too if they breathe in too much of it.

Police found out that the person from the pest control company who did the spraying did not have the right paperwork or training. The hotel was emptied out and closed down so police could take samples and investigate.

Two other tourists at the same hotel, one from Italy and one from Morocco, also got sick and went to the hospital. The children’s grandfather is asking for answers about why his family died. The tragedy has drawn attention to safety concerns in Istanbul’s tourism industry.

Police are still doing tests on samples from the dead family members and the hotel to figure out exactly what happened and if the hotel followed proper safety rules when they sprayed for bugs.