Overview
- Security footage shows the Hamburg family struggling to escape a locked hotel while an ambulance waited outside, before all four later died in hospital.
- Prosecutors are centering on a pesticide exposure in a neighboring hotel room, with Turkish reports naming aluminum phosphide as likely involved and suggesting fumes entered the family’s room.
- Eight suspects have been arrested, including pest‑control personnel whom media say lacked the required licensing to apply highly toxic fumigants.
- Authorities report a separate German tourist died after staying in Fatih and two Dutch sisters were hospitalized with similar symptoms; the new cases remain under investigation and an autopsy has been ordered.
- Istanbul officials announced stepped‑up inspections of pest‑control firms and new rules for eateries, while a prior 2024 Istanbul death of a German student linked to bedbug treatment underscores concerns over enforcement and forensic delays.