A full UK investigation into the death of Thomas Cook agent Susan Cooper and her husband John in Hurghada could take “months”, a coroner has warned.
Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire, where the couple lived, said concerns about the case meant a UK evaluation of findings at the post mortem in Egypt “may take some weeks or possibly several months to analyse”.
He told London’s Evening Standard that results from Egypt, which determined that the Coopers had died of complications associated with E. coli poisoning, would be compared with those of the UK investigation. The Cooper’s daughter Kelly Ormerod, who was also staying in the hotel, has disputed the findings of the Egyptian authorities.
Thomas Cook said earlier this week that would examine the full report from the Egyptian authorities and added: “we will need time for our own experts to review it”.
Steigenberger Hotels, which operates the Aqua Magic hotel where the family were staying, said it had put in place extra quality checks, but in a statement, chief executive Thomas Wilms, said: We are in intensive discussions about our future relationship with our operating partners at the Hotel Aqua Magic.”