In an alarming trend, four British tourists have tragically passed away in the span of just four months after contracting severe stomach illnesses while vacationing in Cape Verde, a favored winter getaway. This unsettling news has been shared by lawyers representing their grieving families.

The victims included 64-year-old Elena Walsh from Birmingham, 55-year-old Mark Ashley from Bedfordshire, 64-year-old Karen Pooley from Gloucestershire, and a 56-year-old man. Each fell ill after visiting the islands situated off the west coast of Africa last year.

According to the law firm Irwin Mitchell, these deaths are part of a concerning pattern, as a total of six Britons have reportedly died in Cape Verde since the beginning of 2023. The firm notes that investigations into these troubling incidents are still underway.

Emma Ashley, the wife of Mark Ashley, expressed her family’s profound disbelief and distress following his unexpected passing.

“We went to Cape Verde anticipating a peaceful vacation, but Mark suddenly became gravely ill and unfortunately never recovered,” she lamented.

Mark, a self-employed forklift truck operator, began experiencing severe symptoms just three days into their October trip. He suffered from stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and overwhelming fatigue, according to the law firm’s account.

Mrs Ashley, an early years assistant manager, said they had paid more than £3,000 for the trip booked via Tui, and reported her husband’s illness via the company’s app on October 9, 2025. 

The couple, who had been married for 26 years, stayed at the five-star Riu Palace Santa Maria resort in Sal, and she has since raised concerns about hygiene standards at the hotel. 

After returning to the UK, father-of-two Mr Ashley continued to suffer symptoms.

He collapsed at home in Houghton Regis and was taken to hospital on November 12, 2025, where he was pronounced dead minutes later.

His death has been referred to the coroner, and investigations are continuing.

Part-time nurse and mother-of-one Ms Walsh died in August 2025 after falling ill while staying at the Riu Cabo Verde on the same island.

She had flown to Cape Verde on a £5,000 Tui package holiday with her husband Patrick, their son Sean and their future daughter-in-law Gemma. 

But shortly after arriving, Ms Walsh contracted a stomach bug, and the pain was so unbearable she was rushed to hospital, where local doctors thought she had appendicitis.

She was given an epidural for pain relief, but doctors attempted to remove her healthy organ, with her husband, Patrick, 60, telling The Times that he heard her ‘crying out in pain’ from outside the operating theatre.

‘The last words she shouted were “you’re hurting me, you’re hurting me”, he said, “That’s the last of her.”

Upon the first incision, Ms Walsh suffered a heart attack and the operation was stopped. She never regained consciousness.

The hospital reportedly said it ‘deeply regrets what happened and extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved family’. 

A post-mortem examination carried out in the UK found there was nothing wrong with Ms Walsh’s appendix, and it ruled she had died of heart failure, while listing gastroenteritis as a secondary cause of death.  

Ms Pooley, from Lydney, travelled with a friend to the Riu Funana resort in Sal on October 7, 2025, for a two-week holiday costing £3,000, also booked through Tui.

She became ill with gastric symptoms on October 11 and, in the early hours of the following day, slipped on water leaking from a fridge while going to the bathroom.

She was taken to a local clinic, where she continued to suffer diarrhoea, vomiting and severe pain from a fractured femur.

The retired mother-of-two was airlifted to Tenerife on October 16 for urgent treatment but died in the early hours of the next day, lawyers said.

Her husband Andy, 62, said: ‘We’re utterly heartbroken. Karen was the kindest, loveliest person.

‘She was a devoted wife and mum who loved swimming, walking the dog in the Forest of Dean, and volunteered at a local charity shop. 

‘She was also a wonderful friend who lit up every room she entered.’

He added that she appeared to be in ‘significant distress’ during family video calls and criticised the lack of communication from the clinic and holiday provider.

‘We were desperate for updates while watching Karen get worse,’ he said.

‘We’re devastated and struggling to understand how she went on holiday and never came home.’

Her initial death certificate issued by Cape Verde authorities listed multi-organ failure, sepsis, cardio-respiratory arrest and a broken left leg as causes of death.

The other two British victims since 2023 were named as Jane Pressley, 62, from Gainsborough, who died in January 2023 after falling ill while staying at the Riu Palace Hotel in Santa Maria, Sal, and a man in his 60s from Watford who died in November 2024 following gastric illness after a trip to the islands.

The families of all six victims are now bringing personal injury claims for damages against Tui, which provides many package holidays to Cape Verde.

Jatinder Paul, a serious injury lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: ‘The number of holidaymakers to Cape Verde being struck down with serious and debilitating gastric illnesses is truly staggering. 

‘Nothing brings the gravity of this situation into sharper focus than these recent deaths.

‘In my experience I’m used to supporting holidaymakers who have fallen ill at resorts across the globe, but I’ve never seen repeated and continued illness outbreaks at the same resorts on such a scale over such a period of time.

‘It’s almost incomprehensible that holidaymakers continue to describe the hygiene issues at these Cape Verde hotels year-after-year. 

‘Each case isn’t a statistic; it’s a human story of how lives have been turned upside down.

‘Understandably, those we represent have serious concerns about hygiene standards in Cape Verde. 

‘While nothing can make up for what’s happened, we’re determined to at least help establish the answers they deserve.

‘In the meantime, we call for meaningful and decisive action to get on top of the reported hygiene issues on the islands. 

‘Tour operators are responsible for ensuring the safety of those who have booked all-inclusive package holidays. 

‘Therefore, we urge them to work with the authorities to ensure the highest hygiene and safety standards are always upheld.’

According to The Times, Tui and Riu Hotels said they were ‘deeply saddened’ by the deaths and offered their ‘heartfelt condolences to the families affected’. 

Cape Verde, an archipelago of ten islands sitting around 350 miles west of Senegal in the Atlantic Ocean, has long been marketed as a sun-soaked paradise with year-round warmth and golden beaches.

Over the past two decades, it has boomed in popularity with British and European holidaymakers, with tour firms touting hotspots such as Sal and Boa Vista as budget-friendly alternatives to the Caribbean. 

Visitor numbers have soared from just 115,000 in 2000 to almost one million in 2024, with Britons making up more than a third of arrivals.

In December, hundreds of tourists visited the sun-soaked archipelago, but many were unaware they were holidaying amid what experts later identified as an outbreak of a highly contagious stomach bug, with some patients later describing chaotic scenes at local medical clinics.

Health officials across Europe began detecting a surge in shigella infections late last year, a bacterial illness that causes severe diarrhoea, fever and stomach cramps. 

The infection spreads through contaminated food or water and person-to-person contact, and while most people recover, it can be dangerous for vulnerable patients.

Investigations found that many of those testing positive had recently returned from Cape Verde. 

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported rising cases in countries including the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland and France, while the UK Health Security Agency logged 137 cases between October and December – with 80 per cent linked to recent travel to the islands.

One victim was 31-year-old Jess Richards, who fell seriously ill days into her honeymoon at the Riu Palace Santa Maria resort in October. 

After testing positive for shigella back in the UK, she agreed a settlement of £4,000 in with Tui, which denied liability. She accused the company of failing to warn her of the risk.

‘I was never made aware before I went that something was going on. There was never an email. There’s nothing in the hotel,’ she told The Times. 

‘Don’t go [to Cape Verde]. Your health and the money in your pocket is not worth ever ever putting yourself in that kind of risk.’

The Foreign Office issued a warning to British travellers about shigella on December 15, noting it was the second outbreak on the islands in recent years. 

A previous spike was detected in November 2022, including 23 cases involving UK citizens in the following 12 months.

Just weeks later, Jane Pressley, 62, arrived at the Riu Palace Santa Maria and fell ill within days, lawyers allege. 

She died three weeks after returning home, and her widower is now among hundreds of claimants suing Tui in the High Court. 

The group allege they contracted illnesses including E.coli, salmonella and shigella after staying at the resort.

Legal filings claim Tui breached its duties under the Package Travel Regulations 2018 by failing to provide safe food, drink and accommodation facilities, according to the newspaper.

The tour operator is contesting the allegations, arguing there are many possible causes of gastric illness beyond its control.

A spokeswoman for Riu Hotels said routine monthly testing of food and kitchen staff had detected no presence of shigella.