Turkey jails pest control execs over German tourists' deaths

A Turkish court jailed two executives of a pest control company for 18 years over the deaths of a Turkish-German family who died after inhaling pesticide at an Istanbul hotel, local media reported.

The Turkish-German parents and their two children, aged six and three, died within days of each other after falling ill on Nov. 12 at the Istanbul hotel where they were staying on holiday. 

An autopsy report submitted to prosecutors found a "strong presence of phosphine gas," suggesting the Bocek family died after inhaling toxic insecticide fumes in the hotel.

The trial, which opened at an Istanbul court in April, sought to establish responsibility for the deaths. 

Prosecutors had requested prison sentences of up to 22 years for the suspects for causing multiple deaths through gross negligence. 

The court sentenced the owner of the pest control company and his son to 18 years each behind bars, the hotel owner to 13 years and four months, and the defendant who applied the pesticide to 12 years, two months, and 20 days in prison, Anadolu state news agency reported. 

Investigators had initially suspected food poisoning after the family ate street food in the waterside neighborhood of Ortakoy. 

But that was quickly dismissed after Turkish media reported that their hotel was dealing with a bedbug infestation, with the insecticide gas believed to have seeped into their room through a bathroom ventilation duct.