Overview
- The four-member family from Hamburg checked into a Fatih hotel on November 9 and died between November 13 and 17.
- A preliminary forensic opinion reported in Turkish media points to aluminum phosphide used for bedbug control, which releases toxic phosphine gas when exposed to moisture.
- Reports say the substance was applied on the ground floor and may have reached the family’s first-floor room through a bathroom ventilation fan.
- Two additional guests were hospitalized, the hotel was evacuated on Saturday and then closed by authorities on Sunday.
- Arrests were reported, including hotel staff, food vendors and a pest-control worker said to lack certification, while early suspicions of food poisoning are now considered unlikely; media also note a prior Istanbul death of a German student linked to pest-control chemicals.