'Mum and Dad died in front of me'

The daughter of a British couple who suddenly died on holiday in Egypt has today revealed how both her 'fit and healthy' parents passed away in front of her.

Kelly Ormerod, 40, said her 69-year-old father John Cooper died in their hotel before she accompanied her mother, 63, to hospital in an ambulance where she also died.

The family were on a 'trip of a lifetime' to the five-star Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada with Mrs Ormerod's three children when the tragedy struck on Tuesday.

Mrs Ormerod is now demanding answers as dozens of Thomas Cook customers being evacuated from the hotel report being 'on their knees with food poisoning.' Others suggested the couple may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Thomas Cook told MailOnline this afternoon it had found no evidence of carbon monoxide issues or food poisoning but that it 'doesn't rule anything in or out' as investigations continue.

The travel agent and the Aqua Magic Hotel are in conflict over the situation: Thomas Cook says it is evacuating 301 guests over a 'raised level of illness' - but the hotel, which has received numerous hygiene complaints in the past, claims no-one else is ill.


Egypt, which relies heavily on tourism, has seen visitor numbers plummet by 30 per cent since the 2011 Arab Spring brought security threats and civil unrest.

Last year, the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada was thrown into chaos when a knifeman killed two German women and injured four tourists on the beach. 

In a statement to Lancashire-based radio station 2BR, Mrs Ormerod said today: 'As a family we are devastated. Mum and Dad meant the world to me and the children, and we are in utter shock over what has happened and what is happening.

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'Prior to going on holiday, Mum and Dad were fit and healthy. They had no health problems at all.

'What I want is to clear up some of what is being reported. We have no cause of death, a post-mortem is under way.

'Dad never went to hospital - he died in the hotel room in front of me. I went to hospital in the ambulance with Mum, where she passed away.

'Thomas Cook have been amazing, we have support from the company and I can't praise them enough for what they've done.

'My focus is on getting my children home. All we want is answers about what has happened and a cause of death.

'I'd also like to thank people at home for their messages of love and support during this horrendous ordeal.'

Mrs Ormerod now wants to know how her parents died after the head of Heghada Hospital and a local police official both on Wednesday told MailOnline the pair died of natural causes - but speculation mounts over food poisoning fears.