A family of four, including two young children, have tragically died on holiday after police believe they were poisoned by pesticide used to kill bedbugs in their hotel. Mum Cigdem Bocek, 27, Dad Servet, 38, and their children Masal, three, and Kadir Muhammet, six, were all pronounced dead after falling violently unwell in their bedroom in Istanbul, Turkey.

It had initially been thought that they all had experienced food poisoning after a day out trying local street food from stalls and restaurants in the capital. However, police and prosecutors have now arrested 11 people, including staff at the Harbour Suites Old City Hotel, amid fears aluminium phosphide, used in bedbug treatment in a room on the hotel’s ground floor, may have reached the family’s room through the bathroom ventilation shaft and poisoned them. 

The toxic substance is used as a pesticide in agriculture and homes, but can cause death if inhaled in high amounts. Investigators also discovered that at least one employee of the pest control company whose products were used in the hotel did not have the required certification.

CCTV footage shows the family, from Hamburg, Germany, arriving at the hotel at the start of their holiday on November 9. Just two days later, after a day out sightseeing, they went to the hospital after complaints of nausea, vomiting and dizziness.

Cigdem and the two children died just hours later, while Servet died on Monday after spending six days in intensive care at the city’s Cemil Taskcioglu Hospital. 

The hotel has since been evacuated and sealed off as police proceed to collect samples from various items, including bedsheets, pillows, water bottles and blankets, for examination.

Seven people, including street food vendors, were initially detained by Istanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the Forensic Medicine Institute analysed samples from the food stalls and restaurants the family visited.

Police have also reportedly removed belongings from the rooms of two other guests staying at the hotel, after they were also taken to the hospital with suspected poisoning.

Mustafa Celik, the children’s grandfather, said that his daughter and her family were supposed to visit him after their week-long holiday in Istanbul. Mr Celik also shared that he will file complaints against whoever was responsible and wants those found guilty to receive the heaviest possible sentences.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “Our security forces and prosecutors will lead the necessary investigations to determine the cause of these deaths.”