A distraught holidaymaker has told of her Egyptian hotel hell after the double death tragedy of two Britons and warned there was something ‘suspicious’ going on.
Alison Cope said she and five of her relatives were among 40 families who fell violently ill with suspected food poisoning and that Thomas Cook dismissed their fears as ‘not a problem’ until the sudden deaths of devoted couple John and Susan Cooper on Tuesday.
The knife crime campaigner said her £8,000 two-week holiday to Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in the popular Red Sea resort Hurghada, had been ruined, branding it ‘a disaster’ and slamming the travel agent for not acting quickly enough after concerns were raised.
Alison Cope (pictured) said she and five of her relatives were among 40 families who fell violently ill with suspected food poisoning
The knife crime campaigner (pictured) said her £8,000 two-week holiday to Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in the popular Red Sea resort Hurghada
She had organised the special trip to remember her son rapper Josh Ribera, who was stabbed to death in 2013, on what would have been his 23rd birthday.
She told how her party ended up eating bread and crisps because the hotel meals were so ‘disgusting.’
Ms Cope who is now back at home in Birmingham, West Midlands, from her ill-fated holiday spoke out as a British lawyer said the Egyptian government may be covering up the deaths to protect the country’s tourism industry.
She believes the sickness among so many guests was down to an outbreak of food poisoning and described the hot meals as ‘disgusting.’
She said in a interview with BBC Radio 4: ‘I think it was the food, it was very low standard and it was undercooked and raw at times and really not very good.
A lot of people were being very ill and we reported it to Thomas Cook but they told us there was not a problem when there obviously was.
‘I’ve spoken to at least 40 families and they’ve had sickness, diarrhoea and feeling unwell but again Thomas Cook said there was not a problem and if there was a problem they would act on it. Then very sadly the two guests passed away a couple of days after we reported the sickness.
Trip of a lifetime: The pair were staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel (pictured) in the resort
Ms Cope, who was at the end of her holiday, said that five members of her party had been unwell for 10 days
Tracy Wooffindin (pictured) was among the 100 British guests to land at Manchester Airport
‘It has been incredibly disappointing and Thomas Cook have kept very quiet about it and now they have dealt with it in the correct way.
‘We don’t know the causes of the people who sadly passed away, we don’t know if it’s down to the food or natural causes but there is definitely something going on here and the fact they’ve sent so many senior management over here makes it seem suspicious.’
Ms Cope, who was at the end of her holiday, said that five members of her party had been unwell for 10 days. She added: ‘I know so many people have been ill. The food was undercooked. Half the time we don’t know what it is and can’t eat it because it’s raw in the middle.
‘We’ve spent almost two weeks at a five star hotel eating bread and crisps because at least we know what it is.’
Thomas Cook yesterday evacuated their 300 guests from the hotel. Around 100 Brits chose to cut short their holiday, arriving back at Manchester Airport on a scheduled flight in the early hours of today. The remaining guests, who were mainly British but included some Germans, were transferred to alternative accommodation in the resort.
At 3.30am today around 100 furious British guests landed at Manchester Airport and complained of vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhoea. Pictured: Tracy Wooffindin
‘Fit and healthy’: Kelly Ormerod (right with her mother on a fun run) has revealed how both her ‘fit and healthy’ parents passed away in front of her
Ms Cope said the company, who faces a huge backlash from customers, said they only took complaints of sickness seriously following the double deaths, saying: ‘After doing nothing they suddenly acted but it was too late. It was a disaster.’
Other guests told MailOnline they have been ‘on their knees and sick as pigs’ due to food poisoning, which the hotel denies.
Building company boss Mr Cooper, 69, and his 63-year-old wife, a Thomas Cook employee, form Burnley, Lancashire, who were on a ‘trip of a lifetime,’ both died on Tuesday. Their daughter Kelly Ormerod, 40, who accompanied her parents along with her three daughters, husband Daren.
Devastated Kelly told how she watched them die before her eyes.
In a telephone interview with Sky News yesterday she said: ‘I entered their room in morning and they were both extremely ill. Doctors came to room and they couldn’t save dad – they just couldn’t help and he died before my eyes. I got an ambulance with mum to hospital and while she was in hospital she died.’
In a statement titled ‘normal death of an English old man and his wife’ the local Egyptian governor insisted the deaths were due to ‘respiratory failure’ and were ‘not criminal.’
Devoted: Susan Cooper, 63, and her husband John Cooper, 69 (pictured together), were on holiday at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel in the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada
Amid speculation the couple were killed by carbon monoxide or food poisoning, their shattered daughter said: ‘I believe something suspicious has gone on.’
Ms Cope told how a woman believed to be Mrs Ormerod had brought up the subject of a faulty air conditioning unit to her.
She explained: ‘A family member of the Coopers mentioned air conditioning when they were very upset. I believe it was Kelly – she approached us at the drinks and said ‘Are you English?’ She was very upset, saying ‘It’s the air conditioning.’
‘But we just don’t know.’
Ms Cope has devoted her life to educating teenagers about the danger of blades after losing her rapper son Josh, aged 18, who performed under the name of Depzman.
She won the Stephen Sutton Award for inspiration at Pride of Birmingham in 2015.
On a Facebook post on Thursday she wrote: ‘Thomas Cook are moving all their customers out tomorrow due to an increase in sickness!
‘I wish all the Cooper family love and respect and I am very sorry for their loss.
‘I think the food standards in the hotel have been very poor and th hotel is full of senior Thomas Cook Management due to the very sad deaths.
Claire Wheeldon is among the holiday makers who have landed at Manchester Airport
‘The cause of death hasn’t been officially released but they are taking things very seriously.’
She later added: ‘This holiday was for the children and coming away over Josh’s birthday was incredibly hard for me. The whole holiday was a massive disappointment but to be ill just ruined it.’
Dieter Geiger, General Manager at Aqua Magic, said in a statement to MailOnline: ‘We are deeply saddened by the deaths. In such a circumstance, very little can be said that will help.
‘This makes it even more important to stick to the facts. The doctor’s preliminary report indicates that death was due to natural causes.
‘There are no indications to support allegations of an increased incidence of illness at the hotel.
‘Such rash speculations should urgently be put aside out of respect for the family members of the deceased persons and for other guests.’