A British widow said she had to bury her husband in an unmarked grave in Cape Verde after he fell ill and died there while on holiday.
Law firm Irwin Mitchell said it now represents more than 2,500 people who have complained of illnesses – such as salmonella, E.coli and shigella – after holidays in the West African country since the summer of 2022.
Among them are the families of 10 people who died of gastric illnesses while on holidays booked through Tui, the law firm said.
They are all planning legal action against the travel company.
Retired forklift driver Colin Timson, 74, from Heighington, near Lincoln, fell ill on the second day of his £2,000 two-week stay at the Riu Funana resort in Sal in July 2024.
His wife Jacqueline Timson, 69, said that she found him collapsed the next morning.
Mr Timson died in hospital later that evening and a death certificate from the Cape Verde authorities said his cause of death was dehydration, severe anaemia and septic shock caused by acute gastroenteritis and digestive bleeding, the law firm said.
Mrs Timson, who also fell ill, said she had to bury her husband in an unmarked grave three days after his death.
She said: “We’d been to Cape Verde before and were looking forward to returning. However, when we arrived at the hotel we didn’t feel it was the same standard we’d found on our previous holiday to Cape Verde.
“Some of the food appeared to be undercooked and was lukewarm. The toilets around the pool were full of dead cockroaches and we didn’t go in the pool because the water looked yellow.
Mrs Timson said both she and Mr Timson fell ill at the same time, but he had it worse and was “vomiting yellow sick”.
After he was sent to hospital, Mrs Timpson said she had returned to the hotel as she was told he “would be in safe hands.”
“I didn’t even know he’d died until I arrived at the hospital the following day. When I heard the news my world fell apart,” she said.
“Everything was a blur, but I believed I didn’t have adequate travel insurance, and I thought it would have been too expensive to fly Colin home.
“I was told that there wasn’t an option to have a cremation in Cape Verde so I had to watch helplessly as he was buried.”
The retired factory worker added: “I still can’t comprehend how we went on holiday together but Colin never came home.
“The hardest thing is that I couldn’t even bring his ashes home to be alongside me. Instead, he’s buried in an unmarked grave, alone, thousands of miles away from his family.”
In June 2024, Laurence Brownlie, 67, a retired IT engineer from West Calder in West Lothian, Scotland, went to the five-star Meliá Llana Beach Resort and Spa in Cape Verde with his wife, Glenna, 66, for a two-week holiday when he became unwell.
Three days later, Mr Brownlie collapsed at a dinner table and later died, with a death certificate issued by the Cape Verde authorities saying the cause of death was a suspected heart attack.
His family have concerns about conditions at the resort, including reports of flies in food and the absence of a defibrillator, the law firm said.
His daughter Erin, 34, said: “It remains difficult not to think how dad should have been coming home with mum at the end of their holiday.
“Instead, our family was left devastated and trying to come to terms with losing him so suddenly in such traumatic circumstances.
“I can’t imagine how harrowing it must have been for my mum seeing her soulmate pass away in front of her.
“We’ll forever be grateful to those in the hotel who tried to help dad but what happened has left us with so many unanswered questions. Nothing will ever take away the pain of knowing he died so far from home.
“As well as grieving for dad, we had to deal with the shock of flying out to be with mum, not being able to see him, and then facing the journey of bringing him back to Scotland.
“It’s something no family should ever have to go through.”
Meliá Hotels & Resorts have all been approached for comment.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Tui said: “Our thoughts remain with both families. As we would for any family facing a serious incident or bereavement while travelling with us, Tui’s local representatives offered support and assistance in resort at the time.
“Neither family raised any complaint or concern with Tui, either during their holiday or after returning home, and Tui received no communication about either case until today, when we were contacted by media. As this is now a legal matter, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further.”
A spokesperson for RIU Hotels & Resorts said: “First and foremost, all of us at RIU Hotels & Resorts deeply regret the loss of these families and our thoughts remain with them, as we would with any guest that may face a serious incident when staying with us.
“Out of respect for our guests’ privacy and in compliance with data protection regulations, we cannot provide information regarding specific personal cases. Furthermore, as this is now a legal matter, we are unable to comment further.”
Jatinder Paul, serious injury lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: “It’s staggering that we continue to be contacted by hundreds more people reporting how their holidays have been ruined by serious illness.
“Nothing brings the impact of these incidents into sharper focus than the deaths of British holidaymakers.
“The first-hand accounts from those who have lost loved ones are not only incredibly stark but harrowing.
“Our focus is now on securing our clients the answers they deserve and, where needed, either the support they require to come to terms with their loss or the specialist rehabilitation they require to try and overcome the impact of their illnesses the best they can.”
Shigella is a gastrointestinal bug that can cause severe diarrhoea, fever and stomach cramps. It can be caught from contaminated food, water or surfaces.
Salmonella is often caused by eating or handling contaminated food.
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