Turkish authorities have determined that two Dutch brothers found dead in an İstanbul hotel last August died from exposure to a toxic pesticide, leading to the arrest of five suspects, the DHA news agency reported.
Jamil Yusuf Mohammed, 17, and his 15-year-old brother Yazdani were found dead on August 22 in their room at a hotel in İstanbul’s Fatih district after police responded to an emergency call.
Their father, Rashid, who was in the same room, was hospitalized and survived after treatment.
Initial examinations found no signs of physical violence, and investigators initially suspected food poisoning, focusing on a restaurant in İstanbul’s Beyoğlu district where the family had eaten the night before. Those detained in connection with the restaurant were later released.
However, an autopsy performed by Turkey’s Council of Forensic Medicine later found aluminum phosphide in the brothers’ blood. The substance, commonly used in pesticides, releases highly toxic phosphine gas when inhaled.
Following the findings, police detained five suspects, including the hotel operator, employees and the owner of a pest control company, as well as the person who carried out the treatment. A court ordered all five jailed pending trial.
The case has raised concerns about the use and oversight of pest control chemicals in hotels.
It has also drawn comparisons to another incident in İstanbul’s Fatih district in which a Turkish-German family of four died after exposure to pesticide gas at a hotel last November.
In that case prosecutors said the victims were exposed to phosphine gas used during pest control treatment. Investigators had again initially suspected food poisoning but ruled it out after autopsies.
Six suspects went on trial in connection with those deaths on Tuesday.
Prosecutors are seeking up to 22 years, six months in prison for five of them on charges of causing multiple deaths through gross negligence, while a sixth suspect faces up to 15 years for negligence.