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Istanbul Hotel Pesticide Exposure Suspected in Deaths of GermanTurkish Family as 11 Are Detained

A preliminary forensic report points to pesticide exposure at Harbour Suites Old City, with definitive toxicology still pending.

Overview

  • Officials confirmed the father died Monday after his wife and two children died late last week following sudden illness during their Istanbul stay.
  • Investigators are examining phosphine‑producing pesticides, including aluminium phosphide, and whether fumes traveled through a bathroom ventilation shaft from a ground‑floor treatment.
  • The hotel has been evacuated and sealed, and forensic teams collected items from rooms and samples from eateries for analysis at the Forensic Medicine Institute.
  • Authorities have detained 11 people, including the hotel owner, two staff members, pest‑control workers and several food vendors, with arrest warrants reported for some and charges not yet announced.
  • At least two other hotel guests were hospitalized with similar symptoms, and a fuller forensic report is expected later this month.