Russians poisoned again. And once again in Turkey
Summer 2011 is likely to go down in history of Russian tourism as the poisoning season. Not a single week passes without another report about a poisoning of Russian tourists in one or another country. After the tragic events on the yacht in Bodrum such reports seem even more painful. Yesterday we received a piece of information concerning a mass poisoning (luckily not severe) of the Russians in Club Gunes Garden 4* hotel in Alania.
Three quarters of the hotel’s guests are Russian tourists, mostly from Coral Travel tour operator. According to the General Consul of Russia in Antalya Mr. Alexander Tolstopiatenko, on June 26th and 27th the total of 200 people (including 112 Russians) sought medical attention at Alania hospitals in connection with the food poisoning. Most of them were discharged right after the necessary medical treatment. However the Deputy Director General of Coral Travel Company Mrs. Maria Badalova told RATA-news that not more than 130 tourists contacted the tour operator’s insurance company, and 51 people were admitted. By the Wednesday night five people still remained in the hospitals in satisfactory condition.
According to Mrs. Badalova, the hotel assumes that the poisoning was caused by water – either from a swimming pool or from coolers. “As for now the pool has been drained, cleaned and disinfected. Coolers were removed and the water sent for analysis. The hotel’s doctors made up a special menu for the sufferers”. As per the consul, two brigades of sanitation officers visited the hotel for disinfection purposes.
Maria Badalova added that the tour operator offered the tourists to move to other hotels of higher category. 142 people moved to Hedef Resort 5* Hotel, three – to Selge Beach 5* and four – to Silence Beach 5*. 17 of the hotel guests left Turkey for Moscow on July 27th.
The tour operator also offered to compensate the cost of hotel nights that the tourists had to spend at hospitals, to extend the duration of stay at Club Gunes Garden Hotel for up to one week and to move the departure flight at no additional charge. All the poisoned were given a free excursion and the kids received a $100 gift from the tour operator.
As per Mrs. Badalova, Coral Travel is not planning to terminate their contract with the hotel after the issue is fixed up.
Yesterday the Chief Health Officer of Russia Mr. Gennady Onischenko declared that the Federal Service on Customers' Rights Protection and Human Well-being Surveillance in cooperation with the Health Ministry may carry out an investigation on the matter.