Unfortunately, the United States isn’t the only country where guests are being killed by carbon monoxide poisoning in hotels.
There has been some legal resolution over the deaths of Christianne Shepherd, 7, and her brother Robert, 6, who succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning in October 2006 in a hotel in Corfu, Greece. According to Travel Weekly UK, the British kids died when a gas boiler used to heat water for their room malfunctioned, sending the deadly gas into their quarters at the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel.
Now a judge had ruled that tour operator Thomas Cook wasn’t liable for the tragic accident, and ordered the hotel to pay interim damages to Cook of 1 million pounds, Travel Weekly UK reported.
Cook is seeking 5 million pounds in damages, for expenses it paid as a result of the accidental deaths, including legal fees for two of its employees who were originally charged with manslaughter in Greece. One of those workers was acquitted and charges were dropped against the other one.
Three employees of the hotel, including its manager at the time of the deaths, were convicted of manslaughter in Greece and received 7-year sentences, according to Travel Weekly UK.
The hotel’s owner has already reached a settlement with the parents of the children that were killed, Sharon Wood and Neil Shepherd. But Wood told BBC News that she was blindsided by Cook’s action against the Louis hotel.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-23504911
Wood said that she wasn’t aware that Cook had taken legal action against the hotel, and had she known she wouldn’t have accepted a settlement from the hotel that was less than the interim payment that the tour operator has just received, according to BBC News.
She noted that it had been a big financial burden to spend several years traveling to Greece for legal proceedings relating to the deaths of her children.
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