CAIRO, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The E. coli bacteria was the cause of the recent deaths of two British holidaymakers at a Red Sea hotel in Egypt, the Egyptian prosecutor general revealed in a report on Wednesday.
E. coli was the cause of the heart failure of 69-year-old John Cooper which led to his death, while his wife Susan, 64, died hours later of gastroenteritis which was also likely to have been caused by E. coli, according to the report by Prosecutor General Nabil Sadek.
"The forensic report concluded that the death of John Cooper was a result of acute intestinal dysentery caused by E. coli," said the report.
For Susan, "the forensic report attributed her death to her infection of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) that was likely caused by E. coli," it added.
The Coopers died on Aug. 21 at a hotel in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Hurghada, southeast of the capital Cairo, during a holiday with their daughter and grandchildren.
The Egyptian report said the couple's bodies showed no signs of "criminal violence or resistance," while other tests on air and water also found nothing unusual.
Two days after their death, Thomas Cook, the tour operator in charge of the deceased couple, announced evacuation of more than 300 holidaymakers from the hotel.
The British company sent investigators to the hotel in Egypt and revealed a week ago that they found "a high level of E. coli" in the food served there.
