Two tourists have died from suspected pesticide poisoning after their hostel in Sri Lanka was fumigated for bedbugs, Britain’s PA Media news agency has reported.
Ebony McIntosh, a 24-year-old digital marketing and social media manager from the English city of Derby, and 26-year-old Nadine Raguse from Germany were both staying in the Miracle Colombo City hostel in the Sri Lankan capital, PA reported Sri Lanka Police as saying on Thursday.
They both fell ill after a room at the hostel was fumigated to treat bedbugs, Sri Lanka Police spokesman Buddhika Manatunga told PA, and McIntosh was hospitalized on Saturday.
Officers are investigating whether the two women were poisoned by pesticides, the Manatunga said.
He added that an autopsy to determine McIntosh’s cause of death will take place after her family arrives in Sri Lanka on Monday.
Manatunga said the hostel, which is currently closed, will remain shut until then, according to PA.
A spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) told PA: “We are supporting the family of a British woman who died in Sri Lanka, and are in contact with the local authorities.”
McIntosh’s family have launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for their travel to Sri Lanka.
“We are absolutely heartbroken to share that our beautiful baby girl and big sister Ebony has passed away unexpectedly on the Saturday 1st February 2025, thousands of miles away from home,” McIntosh’s family wrote on the page.
“Words cannot begin to express how broken we are, it’s been like a nightmare since we found out on Sunday morning, we have prayed and prayed that this can’t be true. It couldn’t possibly happen to our lovely Ebs,” they continued.
The family wrote that McIntosh flew from London to Sri Lanka on Tuesday, January 28, to “follow her dreams of travelling all over South Asia,” and that she was “full of excitement,” having spent months planning.
They added that McIntosh and “several others” were rushed to hospital on Saturday after suffering from vomiting and nausea, and that McIntosh also had difficulty breathing.
The family said she died within a few hours of arriving at the hospital.