Germany German mother and children die during Istanbul vacation
Street food during a visit to Istanbul could have cost the lives of a family from Germany. After the deaths of the three and six-year-old children, the mother also died in hospital, as the news agency DHA reported.
14.11.2025, 10:26
SDA
The father is still being treated in intensive care. Investigations into the cause of the deaths are continuing. Food poisoning is suspected. However, it is unclear whether food actually caused the deaths.
Eating street food during a visit to Istanbul
The father, mother, six-year-old son and three-year-old daughter had traveled to Istanbul on Sunday and then did what is standard fare for thousands of tourists in Istanbul: eat street food. Stuffed mussels and stuffed potatoes in particular are sold in numerous places in the center of the metropolis.
The family from Hamburg is said to have driven to the Ortaköy district at lunchtime on Tuesday. This is what the father of the family said before he was intubated, reports the newspaper "Sabah". There they ate stuffed mussels from a hawker and then soup and kokorec, a traditional Turkish street food dish made from veal intestines, in another store.
On the way back to the hotel in the Fatih district, they bought lokum - a Turkish sweet - and water. Other media reported that the family had also eaten kumpir (stuffed potatoes).
Authorities have a store under suspicion
On Wednesday, the family was initially admitted to hospital with suspected food poisoning due to nausea and vomiting, the state news agency Anadolu reported. However, they were later discharged. Mother and daughter were then found motionless in the hotel and the entire family was taken to hospital again. Shortly afterwards, both children died, and later the mother too.
According to Turkish media, the family had Turkish roots and had traveled to Istanbul for a vacation home. The Foreign Office in Berlin confirmed that they were German citizens.
Turkish authorities have targeted a store in the Besiktas district. "The business believed to have caused the incident has been sealed indefinitely by the relevant units of our municipality to protect public health and safety," the newspaper "Cumhuriyet" quoted the Besiktas city administration as saying. The incident will be investigated further.
