More than 2,000 tourists are taking legal action after a stomach illness outbreak in Cape Verde left eight people dead and left some holidaymakers with long-term health problems. The claims are mainly against TUI, one of the biggest tour operators to the islands, as victims say their holidays were ruined by dirty hotels, unsafe food and problems with the water systems.
Jatinder Paul, who is acting for many of the claimants, said the scale of the case was unlike anything he had seen in about 20 years of representing people who suffered serious injuries abroad. He said the claims could be “the tip of the iceberg” because “these are just the people that have contacted us.”
The illnesses linked to the outbreak include Shigella, Salmonella and E. coli, infections that can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration. Paul said some victims became so ill they could not work, and described “a cocktail of different pathogens” that was especially dangerous for people with weakened immune systems.
He said the evidence gathered so far pointed to basic hygiene failures. “We’ve heard over and over again meat being uncooked,” he said. “We’ve seen photographs of chicken that is quite clearly raw. We’ve seen flies on food, considerable flies on food.”
The deaths have already included three British tourists named in the facts from 2024: Elena Walsh, 64, from Birmingham; Mark Ashley, 55, from Bedfordshire; and Karen Pooley, 64, from Gloucester. Solicitors said eight British tourists have died after falling ill during or following holidays in Cape Verde in recent years.
Walsh’s husband, Patrick, said: “You don't expect to go on holiday and you all don't come back.” His words capture the weight of a case now spreading far beyond a single hotel or a single trip.
TUI has taken over a million tourists to Cape Verde in recent years, which helps explain why the legal action has grown so quickly. But the case now turns on whether the conditions described by holidaymakers — food safety lapses, dirty accommodation and water-system problems — were isolated failures or part of a wider pattern that allowed the outbreak to take hold.
That question matters because the claims are no longer just about a ruined holiday. They now involve a death toll, illnesses tied to serious pathogens and a legal fight that could widen as more tourists come forward.