Egypt says poison gas leaks not behind death of British couple at hotel

The beach of the Sunny Days El Palacio resort in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Hurghada. File picture: Ahmed Gomaa/AP

The beach of the Sunny Days El Palacio resort in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Hurghada. File picture: Ahmed Gomaa/AP

Published Aug 25, 2018

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Cairo - Egypt's top prosecutor has dismissed speculation that the death of two British tourists in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada was caused by poisonous gas emissions in their hotel room.

Saturday's statement by Nabil Sadeq says a technical team's inspection of elderly couple John and Susan Cooper's room showed there were no toxic or harmful gas emissions or leaks. It says his office is waiting for a forensic analysis of samples taken from the bodies.

The Cooper couple's deaths prompted tour operator Thomas Cook to evacuate all of its customers - amounting to around 300 tourists - from the hotel as a "precautionary measure."

The company said circumstances of their deaths are "unclear" and that it received reports of "a raised level of illness among guests."

Egyptian authorities dismissed criminal motives as being behind the deaths.

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AP

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