The tragedy of the Böcek family, a family of tourists who had travelled from Germany to spend a few days in Istanbul, took an even more dramatic turn late yesterday after the death of the last survivor, the father, following the death of his wife and two young children in the previous days: a case that has shocked the whole of Turkey and is keeping investigators in a race against time to find out why the victims died. Possible food poisoning or a chemical substance used in the hotel are the most likely hypotheses.
The family, of Turkish origin, had travelled from Germany to Istanbul on 9 November for a week’s holiday, staying at the Harbour Suites Old City hotel, located in the Fatih district in the heart of the city’s historic centre. After receiving outpatient medical attention for suspected food poisoning on 12 November and being discharged, they returned to the hotel at 15:40. However, a day later, the two sons – Kadir, 6, and Masal, 3 – along with their mother died despite medical attempts to save them, after being rushed to hospital with high fever and vomiting. The father, Servet Böcek, remained in intensive care but died last night in a hospital in Taksim, the daily Hürriyet reported.
The investigation is now focusing on both food poisoning from food eaten outside the hotel and a possible case of chemical poisoning after aluminium phosphide – a highly toxic fumigant for which there is no antidote– was found in the hotel room where the family was staying. The definitive cause will be determined once tests at the Institute of Forensic Medicine have been completed.
According to the previous statement made by the mother, Çiğdem Böcek, prior to her death, the family had eaten a wide variety of food in Istanbul, including street food during a visit to the tourist district of Ortaköy – pies, kebap, mussels, kokoreç – but initial tests have ruled out contamination in all the establishments visited. Suspicions then focused on the hotel, especially after two other guests fell ill on 15 November.
The substance may have entered the room through the bathroom
Police collected samples of sheets, pillows, water bottles and blankets before sealing the building, where authorities are investigating whether aluminium phosphide could have found its way into the room where the family was staying through the bathroom ventilation system. The owner of the hotel, several of his employees, as well as workers from the fumigation company that had recently fumigated the building, have been arrested on charges of “causing the death of more than one person by negligence“.
In total, 11 people are currently in custody and under investigation. Experts stress that aluminium phosphide, commonly used against bedbugs and cockroaches, is an extremely powerful poison that can cause death when breathed in excess. In this regard, it has emerged that one of the employees of the pest control company, now detained, lacked the necessary certification.
Two other people died in Ankara in a very similar case
The case, according to Turkish press reports, was reminiscent of a similar incident in Ankara two years ago, when spraying with the same substance in a block of flats in the Turkish capital caused two deaths and left 13 people hospitalised. On that occasion the deceased were Türkan and Elip Sude Sabancılar, who were also initially admitted for what was believed to be food poisoning and discharged, and who – as in the Istanbul case – died after their condition worsened following their discharge.
Meanwhile, security camera footage from the Istanbul hotel has emerged showing the Böcek family returning to the hotel by taxi after receiving initial medical attention for what they believed at the time to be food poisoning from something they had eaten. The footage shows the father, mother and two young children entering the reception of the hotel establishment.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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