British widow ‘forced to bury her husband in an unmarked grave’ in Cape Verde after he fell ill and died there on holiday

A widow has revealed she was forced to bury her husband in an unmarked grave in Cape Verde after he fell ill on holiday.

His sudden death and that of another tourist brings to at least 10 the number of Britons who have died on all-inclusive trips since 2023.

Retired forklift driver Colin Timson, 74, was on holiday on the African island with his wife Jacqueline when he started suffering from illness and diarrhoea.

When he returned from breakfast the next morning, he found her unconscious. Mr Timson was taken to hospital but died the same evening, in July 2024.

Cape Verde officials said the cause of death was acute gastroenteritis and digestive bleeding. This led to dehydration, severe anemia and septic shock, they said.

Timson, 69, who was also suffering from stomach cramps, said she was forced to bury her husband in an unmarked grave just three days later because she believed her travel insurance would not cover the cost of taking his body home.

‘I was told that cremation is not an option in Cape Verde,’ he said.

‘I couldn’t even bring his ashes home. Instead, he was buried alone in an unmarked grave, thousands of miles away from his family.’

Jacqueline Timson was forced to bury her husband in an unmarked grave because she did not believe her travel insurance would cover the cost of repatriating him.

The couple, from Heighington, near Lincoln, had previously been to Cape Verde and paid £2,000 for a second trip with travel firm TUI.

But Ms Timson, a retired factory worker, said the all-inclusive hotel Riu Funana did not appear to be ‘up to the same standard’.

‘Some of the food looked undercooked and lukewarm,’ he said. ‘The toilets around the pool were full of dead cockroaches and we didn’t go in because the water looked yellow.

‘When [Colin] I left the clinic to go to the hospital, returned to the hotel as I was told he would be in safe hands and that I would visit him the next day.

‘I didn’t even know he was dead until I got to the hospital. When I heard the news my world collapsed. Everything was a blur.”

The family of another British tourist who died during a TUI package trip also spoke today.

Laurence Brownlie, 67, a retired IT engineer from West Lothian, was on holiday just a month before the Timsons.

On June 5, the 66-year-old fell ill while staying with his wife, Glenna Brownlie, at the five-star Melia Llana Beach Resort and Spa in Cape Verde.

A few days later, he got up from the dinner table and collapsed on the floor. The flight crew, who were eating nearby, attempted CPR, but they were unable to resuscitate him.

According to the death certificate issued by local authorities, the suspect had suffered a heart attack.

Laurence Brownlie, 67, a retired IT engineer from West Lothian, and his wife Glenna were on holiday just a month before the Timsons.

Laurence, pictured, died three days after falling ill in Cape Verde

Mr Brownlie’s wife and three daughters, who went out after his death, said they were unable to see his body before returning to England.

They reported that there were flies in the hotel’s food and that there was no defibrillator.

One of his daughters, Erin, 34, said: ‘Dad should have come home at the end of the holiday. Instead, our family had to try to come to terms with the pain of losing him in such traumatic situations.

‘I can’t imagine how sad it must have been for my mother to see her soulmate die in front of her.

‘We hear so many stories about people falling ill with serious illnesses or even dying over the holidays. ‘We now need to honor my father’s memory by at least giving him the answers he deserves.’

More than 2,500 people who visited Cape Verde since 2022 are taking legal action against TUI after contracting diseases such as salmonella, E. Coli and shigella.

This includes nearly 600 people who have come forward in the last four months after the media raised the alarm in January.

Jatinder Paul, of law firm Irwin Mitchell, who represented those affected, said: ‘It is surprising that hundreds more people have contacted us reporting how their holidays have been ruined due to serious illness.

‘The first-hand accounts of those who lost loved ones are heartbreaking.’

Other British holidaymakers who have died include part-time nurse and mother-of-one Elena Walsh, 64, from Birmingham, who died last August, Jane Pressley, 62, from Gainsborough, who died in January 2023, and Mark Ashley, 55, from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, who died last November.

Karen Pooley, 64, from Lydney, Gloucestershire, died last October after falling ill at the Riu Funana resort, the hotel where Mr Timson was staying.

Under UK law package holiday providers take legal responsibility for the standards of all services provided, including food, hygiene and accommodation, even if they are delivered by a third-party hotel abroad.

A TUI spokesman said: ‘Our thoughts remain with the families affected. ‘TUI provided support in both cases, including assistance to family members and those directly affected.’

‘Our records do not contain reports of diarrhea and vomiting to TUI at the time, and notes recorded by our team show that Mrs Timson’s husband reported feeling unwell during the flight to Cape Verde.

‘Ms Timson thanked TUI representatives for their support when she contacted our customer service team upon her return to the UK.’

The travel firm said it had heard of the Timsons’ and Brownlies’ legal claims for the first time yesterday, adding that for legal reasons ‘it would not be appropriate for us to comment further on the specifics of either case’.