A widow has spoken of her heartbreak after saying she had no choice but to bury her husband in an unmarked grave in Cape Verde following a sudden illness during their holiday.
His death, along with that of another tourist, brings the number of Britons reported to have died while on all-inclusive trips to the islands since 2023 to at least 10.
Colin Timson, a 74-year-old retired forklift driver, had travelled to the African island nation with his wife, Jacqueline, when he began experiencing sickness and diarrhoea.
The following morning, Mrs Timson returned from breakfast to find her husband collapsed. He was taken to hospital but died later that evening in July 2024.
Authorities in Cape Verde recorded his cause of death as acute gastroenteritis and digestive bleeding, which they said resulted in dehydration, severe anaemia and septic shock.
Mrs Timson, 69, who said she also suffered stomach cramps during the trip, said she buried her husband three days later in an unmarked grave because she believed their travel insurance would not pay to repatriate his body to the UK.
‘I was told there wasn’t an option to have a cremation in Cape Verde,’ she said.
‘I couldn’t even bring his ashes home. Instead, he’s buried in an unmarked grave, alone, thousands of miles away from his family.’
Retired forklift driver Colin Timson, 74, started to feel unwell on the second day of his holiday in Cape Verde, and died the following evening
Jacqueline Timson was forced to bury her husband in an unmarked grave, as she did not believe her travel insurance would cover the costs of repatriating his body
The couple, from Heighington, near Lincoln, had been to Cape Verde before, and forked out £2,000 for a second trip with the travel firm TUI.
However, Ms Timson, a retired factory worker, said their all-inclusive hotel, the Riu Funana, did not seem to be of the ‘same standard’.
‘Some of the food appeared to be undercooked and was lukewarm,’ she said. ‘The toilets round the pool were full of dead cockroaches and we didn’t go in because the water looked yellow.
‘When [Colin] left the clinic to go to hospital I went back to the hotel as I was told he would be in safe hands and to visit him the following day.
‘I didn’t even know he’d died until I arrived at the hospital. When I heard the news my world fell apart. Everything was a blur.’
The family of another British tourist who died during a TUI package trip have also spoken out today.
Laurence Brownlie, 67, a retired IT engineer from West Lothian, was on holiday only a month before the Timsons.
He became unwell on June 5, while staying at the five-star Melia Llana Beach Resort and Spa in Cape Verde with his wife, Glenna Brownlie, 66.
A few days later, he stood up from the dinner table and collapsed. Flight crew dining nearby attempted CPR, but they were unable to revive him.
According to a death certificate issued by the local authorities, he had suffered a suspected heart attack.
Laurence Brownlie, 67, a retired IT engineer from West Lothian, and his wife Glenna, were on holiday only a month before the Timsons
Laurence, pictured, died three days after falling unwell in Cape Verde
Mr Brownlie’s wife and three daughters – who flew out after his death – said they were unable to see his body before he was returned to the UK.
They reported flies in the food at the hotel and said there was no defibrillator available.
One of his daughters, Erin, 34, said: ‘Dad should have been coming home at the end of their holiday. Instead, our family was left trying to come to terms with losing him in such traumatic circumstances.
‘I can’t imagine how harrowing it must have been for my mum seeing her soulmate pass away in front of her.
‘We’re hearing too many stories of people suffering serious illness or even dying on holidays. The least we now owe Dad is to honour his memory by establishing answers he deserves.’
More than 2,500 people who have visited Cape Verde since 2022 are taking legal action against TUI after they contracted the likes of salmonella, E. Coli and shigella.
This includes around 600 who have come forward in the past four months, after media reports raised the alarm in January.
Jatinder Paul, from the law firm Irwin Mitchell which is representing those affected, said: ‘It’s staggering that we continue to be contacted by hundreds more people reporting how their holidays have been ruined by serious illness.
‘The first-hand accounts from those who have lost loved ones are harrowing.’
Other British holidaymakers who have died include part-time nurse and mother-of-one Elena Walsh, 64, from Birmingham, who died last August, Jane Pressley, 62, from Gainsborough, who died in January 2023, and Mark Ashley, 55, from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, who died last November.
Karen Pooley, 64, from Lydney, Gloucestershire, died last October after she fell ill at the Riu Funana resort – the same hotel where Mr Timson stayed.
Under UK law, package holiday providers bear legal responsibility for the standards of all services provided, including food, hygiene, and accommodation, even if they are delivered by a third-party hotel abroad.
A spokesman for TUI said: ‘Our thoughts remain with the families affected. TUI provided support in both cases, including assistance to family members and those directly impacted.’
‘Our records do not contain reports of diarrhoea and vomiting being made to TUI at the time, and notes recorded by our team indicate that Mrs Timson reported her husband had been feeling unwell during the flight to Cape Verde.
‘Mrs Timson thanked TUI reps for their support when our customer care team was in contact on her return to the UK.’
The travel firm added that the first it had heard of the Timsons’ and the Brownlies’ legal claims was yesterday, and that for legal reasons, ‘it would not be appropriate for us to comment further on the specifics of either case’.
