A relaxing family holiday turned into a tragedy after a husband and wife both fell gravely ill while living it up at a luxury hotel in Egypt.

John Cooper, 69, and his wife Susan, 63, died within hours of one another after both falling ill at the five-star all-inclusive Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel, Hurghada, close to the Red Sea. Five years after the tragedy in 2018, their family are now hoping for answers during an inquest at Blackburn Town Hall this week.

On the first day of the hearing on November 7 the pair's daughter Kelly Ormerod, 46, said her parents were fit and healthy when they left their home in Burnley to travel to the resort in August 2018, reports the Daily Mirror.

John, a builder, enjoyed sport and shooting while Susan competed in a Tough Mudder competition the year before she died.

However, on August 21, 2018, both suffered from severe diarrhoea and vomiting and later died. The couple’s granddaughter Molly Ormerod, now 18, who was sharing a room with her grandparents at the time said it had developed a ‘strong yeasty smell’ after the air conditioning unit was adjusted the day before.

In the early hours of August 21, Molly, then 12, asked to be taken to her mum, who was sharing a room with her younger siblings.

She had been suffering an upset stomach and said the stench coming from her grandparents room was making her feel sick. When John dropped Molly at the room, at around 1am, Kelly said he appeared fine and showing no signs of illness. Molly went straight to sleep and recovered over the next few days, she said.

However the following morning Kelly went to check on her parents when they did not appear for breakfast. John answered the door, wearing a towel wrapped around his waist and was unsteady on his feet. He then stumbled back into the room before slumping on the single bed. Susan was sprawled in the double bed groaning, Kelly said.

Giving evidence, Kelly described chaotic scenes as two doctors tried to help her parents. Family friends also tried to assist the couple, but they were deteriorating rapidly. An ambulance was called but the family were told it would take a long time to come as it was a religious holiday.

Rachel Hogan, a nursing associate who had travelled with the group, took over CPR at one point to try to save John’s life. She said she was asking for a defibrillator, oxygen and an ambulance, but they were all slow to arrive. Mr Cooper died in the hotel room at around noon and Mrs Cooper was transferred to hospital. She died there at 4pm the same day.

Fellow guests at the hotel said they saw the neighbouring room being treated for bed bugs on August 20. Three men were spotted entering the room with canisters before using masking tape to seal the door as they left.

Other members of the Cooper's holiday group also developed stomach upsets, with two of the party being given medicine from their GPs when they returned home to the UK. Molly told the hearing that following her grandparent’s deaths she saw two men carrying what looked like an air conditioning unit to the hotel room and that when she later returned to collect her belongings it smelled like fresh paint.

Kelly said: “Dad was, for his age, a young man. He was extremely active, bubbly and personable. Mum was an extremely fit and healthy person and the healthiness she had on the inside she liked to portray on the outside.”

Lancashire Coroner James Adeley will reach a conclusion on how Mr and Mrs Cooper died on November 8.

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