A British woman has died on holiday in Sri Lanka after a room in her hostel was fumigated for bed bugs, local police said.
Ebony McIntosh, 24, from Derby, was taken to hospital in the capital Colombo on Saturday after becoming ill.
She had reportedly suffered vomiting, nausea and breathing difficulties – but died there hours later.
Another woman Nadie Raguse, 26, from Germany, who was also staying at the Miracle Colombo City Hostel died, Sri Lanka police said.
The force’s spokesperson Buddhika Manatunga said a room in the hostel had been fumigated for bed bugs before the women fell ill – and that they are investigating the possibility of poisoning by noxious pesticides.
The hostel is closed until further notice.
The digital marketing and social media manager’s family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with the cost of returning her body to the UK.
‘Absolutely heartbroken’
A statement on the page read: “We are absolutely heartbroken to share that our beautiful baby girl and big sister Ebony has passed away unexpectedly on Saturday 1st February 2025, thousands of miles away from home.
“Words cannot begin to express how broken we are, it’s been like a nightmare since we found out on Sunday morning, we have prayed and prayed that this can’t be true. It couldn’t possibly happen to our lovely Ebs.”
The statement added: “We cannot even begin to imagine how scared she must have felt at the time and it hurts us so badly to think of the pain she was in. We need to be with her and bring her home safely.
“She passed away with someone from the hostel beside her. We are endlessly grateful to this man for staying with her during her last moments.”
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The family said Ms McIntosh had started her holiday on 28 January when she flew from Heathrow to “follow her dreams of travelling all over South Asia, starting in Sri Lanka”.
They said she was “full of excitement for her adventures ahead, in typical Ebony style she had spent months researching and planning and drawing up schedules for the coming months”.
“Her trip was cruelly cut short on Saturday 1st February, when she [was taken] very ill in the hostel she was staying in.”
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A cause of death has not been established – and a post-mortem examination cannot take place until the family arrives on 10 February, the police said.
A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson confirmed: “We are supporting the family of a British woman who died in Sri Lanka, and are in contact with the local authorities.”
