A coroner has asked lawyers for Thomas Cook to file audit reports of cleanliness and food safety at a hotel where a three-year-old girl died while on holiday.
Lily Gibson died at the Bodrum Holiday Resort in Mugla, Turkey last year during a holiday with the travel company.
Solicitors for her family want Cook to answer questions about hygiene at the resort and if she could have contracted E.coli, shigella or salmonella.
She fell ill during her stay and was given medication from a pharmacy before she died in her hotel room on August 25.
Assistant coroner Professor Robert Forrest told Sheffield Coroner’s Court establishing the cause of Lily’s death would be crucial in determining how she became sick.
Reading a document from the family solicitor, Stephen Ireland, Prof Forrest said there had been reports of illness at the hotel around the time of the family’s holiday.
Prof Forrest said: “The evidence of poor food safety at the hotel and the possibility that Lily died as a consequence of a food-related illness provides justification for additional enquiries of Thomas Cook and the disclosure of both food safety audits and the additional report outlining areas of improvement.”
A spokeswoman for Thomas Cook said: “Our deepest condolences are with the family after the heartbreaking death of their daughter on holiday last year.
“We have provided the Coroner with all the information we have been able to gather from the hotel and healthcare facilities.
“The cause of death remains unclear. We continue to support the Coroner and the family in any way we can and await the outcome of the inquest.”
