Legal win for poisoned tourists

The Tour Operator Thomas Cook has admitted liability in the cases of more than 450 holidaymakers who fell ill at the Dominican Republic's Bahia Principe Hotel last year.
The company's clients are among some 1,000 tourists taking legal action against several British tour operators following a prolonged outbreak of food poisoning at the all-inclusive resort in August 2007.
Many have since suffered long-term complications such as irritable bowel and chronic fatigue syndromes after going down with a toxic cocktail of infections that included salmonella, campylobacter and giarda.
The Foley family from Gateshead were among those affected, suffering from stomach cramps, diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea and fever. Upon their return they were diagnosed with cryptosporidium and shigella.
" Our holiday was ruined, and I'm disgusted, " said Mr Foley. " It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime. Instead, it was a holiday from hell."
"The continuing history of problems at the Bahia Principe hotel as among the worst that we are aware of," said Suki Chhokar of the law firm Irwin Mitchell. "The scale of illness suffered and the number of guests suffering long-term health problems mean that tour operators should have done more to ensure the safety of guests."
Thomas Cook now faces the prospect of a multi-million-pound payout-the second this year, and possibly not the last. In February, the company paid £2.5m to 790 holidaymakers similarly infected at the Beach-Club hotel in Torremolinos.
But despite the cost, the hotel faces fresh allegations: now another group of embittered guests has launched an action after their holidays were ruined by diarrhoea and vomiting.
Holidays at both hotels remain on sale with Thomas Cook, which says it will work with clients "to agree fair compensation".