Ex-Cook agent died after hotel fumigated for bedbugs, inquest told

Thomas Cook agent Susan Cooper, 63, was on holiday with husband John Cooper, 69, at the Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada when the incident happened in 2018.

 
The inquest heard how the Coopers fell ill during the early hours of 20 August and died the next day, the BBC reports. A report shared at the couple’s inquest this week pointed to possible exposure to an “infectious biological agent or toxic chemicals”, the network added.

Blackburn Coroner’s Court heard the report suggested neither carbon monoxide poisoning nor food poisoning caused the couple’s deaths. Their daughter Kelly Ormerod described her parents as fit and healthy and insisted they had been enjoying a “brilliant holiday”.

Susan Cooper, who was a cashier at the bureau de change at Thomas Cook’s agency in Burnley, and her husband enjoyed several holidays a year, the inquest was told. She has been at the same hotel in April that year, describing it as “fabulous”, and decided to return with her family.

The hearing was adjourned until Wednesday morning (8 November).