Family tribute for Corfu children

Two British children feared to have died from poisoning during a Greek
holiday have been described as "gorgeous" by family members.
Officials are still investigating how Robert Shepherd, six, and sister
Christianne, seven, died.

Their father, Neil Shepherd and his partner, Ruth Beatson, both of W
Yorks, remain seriously ill in Corfu.

Ms Beatson's mother, Helen, said: "They were gorgeous children. That's
all we want to say."

Her father, Stephen, told reporters the family had "absolutely no idea
what had happened".

The pair flew to the Greek island on Friday to be at their daughter's
bedside.

After they arrived, 27-year-old Ms Beatson regained consciousness and
managed to smile - although she has not yet spoken to anyone.

Mr Shepherd, 38, who is separated from the children's biological
mother, was understood to have improved slightly overnight.

Gas leak probe

On Thursday morning, a cleaner at the hotel in the village of Gouvia
discovered the two children dead in their room, and Ms Beatson and Mr
Shepherd unconscious.

The couple, from Horbury near Wakefield, were thought to be in a coma
and were taken to Corfu General Hospital.


Officials are investigating whether the family could have been poisoned
by a gas leak or by something they ate.

Police said engineers would be checking the installation of air
conditioning and boiler systems at the hotel on Friday afternoon.

A pathologist at the hospital told reporters that he suspected the
family had ingested a "powerful poison".

Toxicology tests were taken and post-mortem examinations were being
carried out on Friday, with the results expected in two weeks' time.

'Woozy' complaints

The children lived with their biological mother in Horbury. She flew
out to the island with her new husband on Thursday when they were told
of the deaths.

The family had been taking a week's holiday for the school half-term
break. They stayed at the Louis Corcyra hotel in Gouvia - a small
fishing village near Corfu town which is considered an upmarket
destination.


Thomas Cook, the company they were travelling with, said it was working
closely with the hospital and the police to gain further information
and to support the family.

BBC correspondent Luisa Baldini said Britons at the hotel had been
queuing up to buy British newspapers to try to find out what has been
happening.

A pile of children's clothes remained outside the family's holiday
bungalow, she added.

Guests at the hotel told how they recalled seeing Robert collapse at
breakfast on Wednesday, and that the family had complained of feeling
"woozy".

But the Louis Corcyra strongly denied any possibility of food poisoning
at the hotel, saying none of the other guests was taken ill.

Last year 100,000 British tourists visited Corfu. Travel specialists
say the deaths will have a big impact on the island.



Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/h...pe/6090036.stm

Published: 2006/10/27 14:57:38 GMT

© BBC MMVI

King Seanie, MASTER of all grik slaves wrote:
James Sturcke and agencies
Thursday October 26, 2006

Guardian Unlimited

Police in Corfu have launched an investigation following the discovery
of the bodies of two British children in their hotel room in Corfu
today.
The seven-year-old girl and her six-year-old brother were found this
morning by a cleaner at the four-star Louis Corcyra hotel in Gouvia, on
the eastern coast of the Greek island.

Their 38-year-old father and his partner, aged 28, were found in a coma
nearby and taken to hospital, where they were described as being "very
sick" and were undergoing treatment.

Greek police said preliminary test results indicated poisoning could
have been involved.

They named the couple as Neil Shepherd and Ruth Beatson and the
children as Robert and Christianne, from Horby, near Wakefield,
Yorkshire.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman confirmed the names of the adults, but
said its policy was not to comment on minors. However, Foreign Offices
sources confirmed the children's names.

Bieriris Dimitris, the chief of security police, said various forms of
poisoning were being investigated.

He added that, at this stage, there was nothing to indicate there was
any deliberate attempt by the family, or anyone else, to take their
lives.

"We are looking at what could have happened," he said. "The prognosis
at the moment is that a poison was involved, maybe some food poison.

"Witnesses have told us that they were just a normal family. They were
seen coming back to the hotel yesterday evening.

"They were not seen in the hotel restaurant last night, so they may
have eaten out or in their rooms and it is possible they may have eaten
something.

"We do not think it was gas poisoning. The parents are still very
sick."

Mr Dimitris said passports showed that the father and two children were
born in Wakefield and Ms Beatson was born in Dewsbury. He said it would
take two or three days before the results of a post mortem were known.

Sky News reported that police were investigating the possibility the
family had been poisoned by mushrooms.

It was believed they had been spending the half term break on the
island, which is one of the most popular Greek island destinations for
British tourists.

A hotel receptionist said the children and the unconscious adults had
been found in the bungalow where they were staying by a cleaner earlier
today.

She said there was no gas cooking facilities in the bungalow, and
refused to answer questions about whether there were gas heaters there.


The receptionist added that 700 people were currently staying at the
hotel, and none had reported any problems with the food. "It was
nothing to do with the hotel. It was something with the family," she
said.

Current temperatures in Corfu were 23C during the day and 15C at night,
she added.

The pathologist who examined the family said they could have taken
strong poison.

"The first indications show that they may have taken some sort of
powerful poison," Stefanos Gasteratos, a Corfu hospital pathologist,
told state television. "The adults are on life support machines and in
critical condition."

Dr Gasteratos said the children had died around eight to ten hours
before their bodies were discovered, and that the adults "seem to have
been stronger in fighting this, which is to be expected".

The family were on holiday with the tour operator Thomas Cook. "We have
no more details at the moment. We are waiting to hear from the hospital
in Corfu," a Thomas Cook spokeswoman said.

The Louis Corcyra hotel, on Gouvia Bay, is set in lush gardens. It is
five miles from Corfu airport and around the same distance from Corfu
town, and underwent a series of extensive renovations during winter
2001.

A recent visitor to the hotel told the TripAdvisor website they were
disappointed with the hotel and described their room as "shabby".

The visitor said: "The surrounding area of Gouvia is a dump ... on
paper, the hotel Louis Corcyra looked and sounded good - the reality
was in fact extremely disappointing."

However, another a tourist, who stayed at the hotel in September, said
he and his wife had spent an "enjoyable week" there and could not
understand other guests' complaints.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006