Two taken ill in Corfu death room
By Maggie Dolan
BBC News Website

A couple who previously stayed in the Corfu hotel room in which two
children died from carbon monoxide poisoning also fell ill during their
holiday.

Kathy Pallant and her husband Andrew stayed in bungalow 112 at the
Corcyra Palace Hotel four days before siblings Christianne and Robert
Shepherd died.

Christianne, seven, and Robert, six, were found dead on 26 October
lying next to their father and his partner.

Mr and Mrs Pallant, from Bucks, were treated for suspected
gastroenteritis.

'Lucky to be alive'

Carbon monoxide poisoning can be mistaken for gastroenteritis.

The hotel had said that no other guests fell ill.

My husband's a big man, and it took an awful lot of his strength for
him to crawl round and get to the telephone for help
Kathy Pallant

Mrs Pallant who lives near Leighton Buzzard told BBC News: "We feel
very, very lucky to be alive. We feel dreadful about this family. It
must not be hushed up.

"There must be other people who were taken ill. There were other people
in there. We didn't see anything, but then did anyone see us being
taken away by ambulance? I can't remember, I wasn't on this planet.

"My husband's a big man, and it took an awful lot of his strength for
him to crawl round and get to the telephone for help."

Tour operator First Choice confirmed from the incident report logged by
the on-site representative at the hotel that a Mr and Mrs Pallant were
in the same room as Neil Shepherd, 38, his children Christianne and
Robert and his partner Ruth Beatson, 27.

Mr Shepherd and Ms Beatson were found unconscious in the room. They are
both in a serious condition but are recovering.

In a statement the operator said: "Mr and Mrs Pallant were staying in
room 112 last week between 16 and 23 October.

"They were both taken ill with suspected gastroenteritis and were
hospitalised. They were discharged the following day. They then
travelled home on their original return flight."

Symptoms non-specific

The clinic in which the couple received treatment stated that the tests
undertaken showed nothing untoward.

Toxicology expert Professor Alistair Hay said that the difficulty is
that the symptoms associated with carbon monoxide poisoning are
non-specific.

"You have headaches, you have aches and pains, you may feel very tired,
and of course this could be attributed to a virus," he said.

The investigation into the children's deaths is centred around a gas
boiler adjacent to the room and experts are now carrying out an
examination on that, as well as air conditioning and water heater
systems.

Scotland Yard detectives permanently stationed in Athens are working on
the investigation alongside their Greek colleagues.

Greek police said they are planning to charge the owner of a hotel in
Corfu, the maintenance manager and the air conditioning engineer with
negligent manslaughter.

Hotel manager George Chrysikopoulos refused to comment on the cause of
the children's deaths because of concerns over prejudicing the police
investigation.

But in a statement, read in Greek and translated by an assistant, he
said: "The hotel management are deeply saddened by this tragic loss of
life and extend their most deepest condolences and sympathy to the
family for their great loss at this time.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/h...nd/6094358.stm

Published: 2006/10/29 14:46:11 GMT

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