Thomas Cook investigate the Corfu deaths of the Shepherd children, from a gas leak.
The deaths of West Yorkshire-born children Bobby and Christianne Shepherd last October, from lethal carbon monoxide fumes given off by a gas water heater, while they were on holiday at the Corcyra Beach Hotel in Gouvia...
.... corfu, has become the subject of a Panorama TV documentary, entitled Death in Corfu, aired by BBC1 on April 2nd.
Bobby and Christianne, aged six and seven, were spending half-term on Corfu with their father Neil Shepherd and his partner when all four were overcome by escaped gas. The Panorama investigation heard that the safety audit was done on the bungalow by a 25-year-old tour operator's representative, and the children's mother, Sharon Wood, told the programme-makers that she hold Thomas Cook responsible for their deaths.
"I hold Thomas Cook totally and utterly responsible," said Mrs Wood, "they should have checked that place they were sending their clients to was safe. You do expect when you book through a British tour operator that things are going to be done to a similar standard [like the standards] we have in Britain."
Heating engineer Harry Rogers, who has appeared as an expert witness in many court cases, was hired by Mrs Wood to inspect the boiler at the Corfu hotel, and found it lacking a flue, among other major faults, including that a thermostat designed to shut the heater down if hot gases were detected had been rewired so it would be overridden if such an incident occurred. "In my opinion first and foremost the contractor or whoever installed them acted negligently," said Mr Rogers.
In response, Thomas Cook have said their rep's check of the hotel complied with the guidelines set down by the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO), who concurred that the company had acted in accordance. Thomas Cook said they were "shocked and saddened" by the deaths and "again wishes to express its sincerest condolences to the family and friends of the children."
Thomas Cook's statement went on to say that, "Never before in the company's 165 year history has it experienced a situation more tragic ... For Thomas Cook this case is unprecedented. We are fully committed to investigating the tragedy and are working very closely with the authorities in Greece and the UK.
No charges have been made against any employee of Thomas Cook or any of its representatives. Thomas Cook can confirm that its internal audits followed the Federation of Tour Operator's procedures and that at least two other leading tour operators conducted audits on the property in accordance with FTO code of practice too.
Due to the ongoing investigations the company is unfortunately unable to comment further at this time. However the company is determined to do everything in its power to ensure that there can be no such similar case in the future.
Carbon monoxide issues are not unique to the travel industry. In recent months the awareness of carbon monoxide has become heightened both domestically, in the UK, and overseas and Thomas Cook would support any new regulation that could be implemented to prevent any similar situations in the future.
Every year Thomas Cook takes more than three million customers abroad and can reassure all its customers that the health and safety of holidaymakers is paramount .
Package holidays offer the most wide-ranging health and safety measures available and therefore continue to be the safest and most protected way for customers to take holidays."
Corfu's authorities are still considering bringing manslaughter charges against the chief executive of the hotel's owners, the Louis Group, the manager of the Corcyra Beach Hotel, and the bosses of the company which installed the heater.