For most of us, bedbugs are the biggest nightmare we could bring home from a hotel. But Istanbul just gave us a reality check. A young German family of four was on a routine Istanbul holiday, but had to deal with a tragedy so surreal that investigators now believe some bug spray was the killer. And eleven people have been arrested in the fallout.
The Bocek family consisted of parents Cigdem and Servet and their two children, Masal, 3, and Kadir Muhammet, 6. Together, they arrived in Istanbul on November 9, expecting a week to remember. They checked into the Harbour Suites Hotel in the Fatih district, Istanbul. For two days, the family enjoyed their trip and ate at multiple local eateries, too.
So when all four of them showed up at the ER on November 11 with dizziness and vomiting, the first assumption was that they all got food poisoning. Surveillance footage even shows them walking through a hospital waiting area while they were still able to do so.
But after returning to the hotel, their health deteriorated. And shockingly enough, Cigdem and the two children died shortly after. Servet was then rushed to Cemil Taskcioglu Hospital, where he spent six days in the ICU but died on November 17. By now, the contaminated-meal story wasn’t adding up. Food poisoning couldn’t get this bad.
Police, prosecutors, and officials connected the dots that pointed back to the hotel.
📍Medeni ülkelerde;
👉Otellerin denetimleri Turizm Bakanlıkları tarafından yapılır ve pest kontrolü (böcek ilaçlaması) hangi firmalar tarafından yapılmış ona bakılır.
👉O firma akredite mi, firma çalışanları neyi ne zaman nasıl kullanacağını, hangi önlemleri alacağını biliyor mu,… https://t.co/280oq48gUp pic.twitter.com/HbHoLoksyX
— Turhan Çömez (@ComezTurhan) November 18, 2025
Authorities believe that aluminium phosphide (an extremely toxic pesticide used in agriculture and desperate anti-bedbug missions) had been used in a ground-floor room of the Harbour Suites Hotel. According to investigators, gas released from the pesticide most probably seeped into the Bocek family’s room through the bathroom ventilation shaft. And that released toxic gas directly into the room they were sleeping in.
It’s important to note that aluminum phosphide isn’t sold to the general public. This is a dangerous chemical that releases phosphine gas when exposed to moisture, and that is enough to, as proved by now, kill people in hours. One breath of a high concentration can shut down your lungs pretty much immediately. Plus, investigators found that one of the pest control employees the Istanbul hotel had hired wasn’t certified to handle the chemical.
As of now, seven more people, including staff from the Istanbul hotel, were taken into custody as the new pesticide theory became more believable. The hotel has now been evacuated and sealed off, as police are combing through rooms and collecting samples. Two other guests (from Morocco and Italy) were also hospitalized with what authorities think is poisoning from the same bug spray.
The Bocek children’s grandfather tells reporters that the family was going to visit him after their trip to Istanbul. But of course, he now calls for strict punishment for whoever is responsible. Toxicology tests are being done, and prosecutors are looking at the series of decisions that allowed a pesticide of this caliber to make its way to an unsuspecting guest at this Istanbul hotel.
Until investigators confirm the cause, the case is open.
