Cape Verde Hotel Deaths: Illness Source and TUI Lawsuit

More than 1,700 British holidaymakers are suing TUI in the High Court over gastric illnesses contracted at Cape Verde hotels, and the Cape Verde hotel deaths lawsuit now includes the families of at least eight British tourists who died after falling ill at resorts on the islands since January 2023. The claims, led by law firm Irwin Mitchell, allege that poor hygiene and food safety failings caused infections including shigella, salmonella, E. coli, and cryptosporidium at eight named hotels, most of them run by the Spanish chain Riu.¹

The Deaths Under Investigation

Irwin Mitchell is investigating eight deaths of British holidaymakers whose families link them to Cape Verde holidays. The earliest was in January 2023; the most recent known deaths occurred in late 2025.²

Jane Pressley, 62, from Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, fell ill two days into a November 2022 stay at the Riu Palace Santa Maria with gastric and flu-like symptoms. She was hospitalised on Christmas Eve with a suspected bacterial infection and died in January 2023. Her widower, Michael Pressley, is one of roughly 300 claimants in a separate group action focused on that hotel.³

Elena Walsh, 64, a part-time nurse and mother from Kings Heath in Birmingham, was staying at the Riu Cabo Verde on Sal when she fell ill on 8 August 2025. She was taken to hospital and died two days later.⁴

Karen Pooley, 64, from Lydney, fell ill at the Riu Funana and was treated at the Clinitur clinic on Sal before being airlifted to Tenerife on 16 October 2025. She died in the early hours of 17 October. A death certificate issued by Cape Verdean authorities cited multi-organ failure, sepsis, cardio-respiratory arrest, and a broken left leg. Her daughter believes she contracted shigella.⁵⁶

Mark Ashley, 55, from Houghton Regis, travelled to the Riu Palace Santa Maria in October 2025 on a two-week TUI booking. Three days in he developed severe stomach pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, and fever, and his wife reported the illness through the TUI app on 9 October. He did not recover after returning home, collapsed on 12 November, and died shortly after being hospitalised. His death has been referred to the coroner.⁷⁸

The remaining four deaths under investigation include two unnamed men in their 50s who died in 2025, an unnamed man from Watford who died in November 2024, and an unnamed 71-year-old woman who died in 2024.²

What Made People Sick

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control first flagged an outbreak in November 2022, and by February 2023 had documented 258 confirmed and possible cases of Shigella sonnei across ten EU countries, the UK, and the US, nearly all linked to all-inclusive hotels in the Santa Maria region of Sal.⁹ By March 2026 the cumulative total had reached 766 shigellosis cases from 13 European countries, alongside more than 300 additional infections involving salmonella, campylobacter, giardia, and cryptosporidium.¹⁰

UK figures spiked in late 2025. The UK Health Security Agency reported 112 shigella cases and 43 salmonella cases among British travellers between October 2025 and early 2026, and issued travel health advice in February 2026. A UKHSA study identified hotel buffets, swimming pools, water and sanitation conditions, and food consumed on excursions as key risk factors.¹¹

Irwin Mitchell’s High Court proceedings name eight hotels where affected holidaymakers stayed:

Riu Palace Santa Maria, the largest group of claimants, with around 300 guests reporting illness in 2022 alone¹²
Riu Funana, with 183 claimants from 2022
Riu Cabo Verde, with 105 claimants from 2022
Melia Dunas, with 70 claimants
Sol Dunas (now TUI Suneo Dunas), with 64 claimants
Riu Palace Boavista, with 57 claimants
TUI Blue Cabo Verde, with 32 claimants
Riu Touareg, with 25 claimants

Guests described undercooked and lukewarm buffet food left uncovered, unsanitary restaurants, mould in rooms, and birds and flies around dining areas. One holidaymaker who stayed at the Riu Palace Santa Maria in March 2025 and was later diagnosed with salmonella reported lukewarm food, stained bedding, and pests in the restaurant.¹³

What Investigators Found as the Source

Cape Verdean authorities initially rejected the illness reports. Investigations on Sal in December 2022 and an epidemiological assessment in Santa Maria in March 2023 concluded there was no outbreak, and testing of 84 food handlers returned negative results for salmonella and shigella.¹⁴

A later investigation by the National Institute of Public Health analysed 156 samples across Sal and Boa Vista, including drinking water, food surfaces, and clinical specimens. Drinking water was cleared, but the outbreak strain of Shigella sonnei was identified in irrigation water used to wash fresh fruits and vegetables. The institute’s administrator, Hélio Rocha, said the strain is most common in Europe and may have been introduced to Cape Verde from abroad. Hotels were ordered to reinforce disinfection of fresh produce, and Cape Verdean officials stated as of March 2026 that there was no active outbreak.¹⁵ The full investigation report had not been published as of mid-2026.¹⁶

The Legal Claim Against TUI

Irwin Mitchell served initial High Court proceedings for 836 holidaymakers in March 2025. By April 2026, the group had grown to more than 1,700 claimants, and the firm was still receiving new inquiries from people who had fallen ill as recently as two weeks earlier.¹²¹

The claims allege that TUI, as the package holiday organiser, failed to protect holidaymakers from illness and failed to ensure hotel facilities including swimming pools and restaurants were maintained to reasonable standards of cleanliness.¹⁷ The legal basis is the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, which make tour operators liable for the performance of all travel services in a package, even where those services are delivered by third-party hotels. Travellers are entitled to compensation, including for non-material losses such as loss of enjoyment, unless the operator can show the problem was caused by the traveller, by unforeseeable actions of an unconnected third party, or by extraordinary circumstances.¹⁸

Jatinder Paul, an international serious injury lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said that if the cases cannot be resolved through negotiation the firm expects a High Court judge to order “millions of pounds worth of damages.”¹ A separate group action for roughly 300 claimants focused on the Riu Palace Santa Maria in 2022, seeking over £5 million, has a six-week trial scheduled for the end of 2027. TUI is contesting that action, and it will likely be the first of the Cape Verde claims to reach a courtroom.³ The broader 1,700-claimant litigation remains in its pre-trial phase; no settlement or verdict has been reached.

What TUI and Riu Have Said

TUI has not admitted liability. The company said “customer health and safety is always our highest priority” and that it has procedures to support customers who fall ill on holiday, but added it is “important that illness is reported to our teams while customers are in destination” because late reporting “limits the assistance we are able to offer at the time.” TUI said it continues to follow UK Foreign Office advice and to engage with hotel partners and authorities, and declined to comment on individual cases while proceedings are active. The company also said it does not have access to the full Cape Verde health report, which remained unpublished as of April 2026.¹⁶

Riu Hotels & Resorts expressed condolences to affected families but said it could not comment on the health or specific details of guests’ stays, citing data protection regulations. The company said it operates “under the highest standards of safety and hygiene” and that the wellbeing of its more than 400,000 annual guests in Cape Verde “remains our absolute priority.”¹⁹

If You Fell Ill or Lost a Family Member

Irwin Mitchell continues to accept new inquiries from people who fell ill at Cape Verde resorts between 2022 and 2025.¹⁷ The firm’s lead lawyer has publicly advised affected holidaymakers not to accept early settlement offers from tour operators without first taking independent legal advice.² Reporting the illness to the tour operator in resort, keeping medical records and diagnostic test results, and noting the hotel and dates of stay are the practical steps that support a claim under the 2018 regulations.

1
BBC News. TUI Faces Legal Action Over Cape Verde Illness Claims
2
ITV News. More Than 1,700 Brits Taking Legal Action Over TUI Cape Verde Illnesses
3
The Independent. Cape Verde TUI Stomach Bug Deaths Lawsuit
4
Birmingham Mail. TUI Responds to Lawsuit From 1,700 Passengers
5
ITV News. Lydney Woman Among Dead After Cape Verde Stomach Bugs
6
BBC News. Cape Verde Holiday Deaths
7
Irwin Mitchell. Lawyers Investigate Four Further Deaths Linked to Illness in Cape Verde
8
BBC News. Cape Verde Holiday Deaths Investigation
9
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Rapid Risk Assessment: Outbreak of Shigella Sonnei Among Travellers Returning From Cabo Verde
10
Food Safety News. ECDC Renews Cape Verde Warning as Illnesses Continue
11
GOV.UK. UKHSA Reminds Travellers to Cape Verde to Protect Against Gastrointestinal Infections
12
Irwin Mitchell. More Than 800 UK Holidaymakers Launch High Court Legal Action After Illness Linked to Cape Verde
13
Irwin Mitchell. Lawyers Fear New Illness Outbreak at Riu Palace Santa Maria Resort in Cape Verde
14
Food Safety News. Cape Verde Officials Respond to Food Poisoning Claims
15
Cabo Verde. Shigella in Cape Verde Hotels Linked to Irrigation Water
16
The Times. Is It Safe to Visit Cape Verde Right Now
17
Irwin Mitchell. Cape Verde Group Claims
18
GOV.UK. Package Travel Regulations 2018 Guidance
19
The Independent. Cape Verde Illness TUI Lawsuit