Overview
- Preliminary Turkish forensics indicate pesticide exposure, likely from aluminum phosphide used for pest control, as a leading theory in the Hamburg family’s deaths, with food poisoning now deemed unlikely.
- The Fatih hotel where the family stayed was evacuated and then closed, and authorities detained food vendors, hotel employees and an uncertified pest controller.
- Turkish media report that a three-year-old died in April after a neighboring pest treatment, with an autopsy citing pesticide poisoning, and DHA says the firm involved matches the one linked to the hotel case.
- A German businessman, Gürhan T. (Takıl), died after acute breathing problems in a Fatih hotel; investigators questioned the hotel about any recent pesticide use, and the cause remains under examination.
- President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says the inquiries are being pursued intensively, with prosecutors reviewing potential connections as final toxicology findings and legal determinations are still pending.