FOUR British people have died within four months after being struck down with stomach bugs while on holiday in Cape Verde, lawyers representing their families have said.
Mark Ashley, 55, of Bedfordshire; Elena Walsh, 64, from Birmingham; 64-year-old Karen Pooley, from Gloucestershire, and a 56-year-old man all died last year after contracting severe gastric illnesses while on the islands off the coast of west Africa.
They are four of six Britons who have died after holidays there since January 2023, and law firm Irwin Mitchell said the six families were making personal injury claims against holiday firm Tui.
Ashley’s wife Emma, 55, said her family were in “complete shock” over his death.
The law firm said investigations into the deaths were “ongoing”, and it was also representing more than 1,500 people who had fallen ill after visits to the country.
Three days into their holiday in October, Ashley fell ill with symptoms including stomach pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, fever and extreme lethargy, Irwin Mitchell said.
The firm said it was representing the families of the six people who had died and more than 1,500 people who had fallen ill after visits to the archipelago, which is west of Mauritania and Senegal.
Emma Ashley said they booked their £3,000-plus trip with Tui, and said she reported her husband’s illness on the holiday firm’s app on 9 October.
She said she had raised concerns over the hygiene standards at the resort she stayed at on the island of Sal.
On their return, her husband’s symptoms continued for some time, his wife said.
After collapsing at home in Houghton Regis, the 55-year-old, who had diabetes, which was controlled through medication, was taken to hospital on 12 November and was confirmed dead minutes later.
His death has been referred to the coroner, Irwin Mitchell said.
Part-time nurse and mother Elena Walsh died in August 2025 after falling ill while staying at a resort on Sal.
Karen Pooley, from Lydney, travelled with a friend to Sal on 7 October for a fortnight’s holiday costing £3,000 and booked through Tui, the law firm said.
The retired mother-of-two became sick on 11 October with gastric symptoms including diarrhoea, and the next day she slipped on water leaking from a fridge while going to the bathroom.
She was transferred to a local clinic and over the next four days she continued to experience diarrhoea and vomiting along with severe pain from her fractured femur.
She was airlifted north-east to Tenerife in the Canary Islands for urgent care on 16 October and died in the early hours of the next day, lawyers said.