A Family’s Nightmare: Tui Under Fire After Baby Dies Following Egypt Resort Stay

The travel giant Tui is facing tough questions about its safety standards after a one-year-old British girl died from a severe gastric illness linked to a stay at an Egyptian resort. The same hotel had previously left two other children fighting for their lives. Ariella Mann passed away in January from a kidney condition caused by E. coli, just days after returning from a two-week all-inclusive holiday at the Jaz Makadi Aquaviva in Hurghada. Her death follows two similar cases at the same property: a six-year-old boy who ended up in intensive care last August, and a two-year-old girl who was airlifted to London in 2024 and placed in a coma. All three children were diagnosed with haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), a rare condition that can lead to kidney failure and brain damage. Ariella’s mother, Jade Oakes, says she is furious that Tui never warned them about the earlier incidents. “If we had known, I never would have taken her there,” she told reporters. “We blamed ourselves, thinking it was our fault for taking her on holiday. But if they had acted sooner, Ariella would still be alive.” Her father, Lee Mann, added that the family paid £6,000 for what they thought was a top-tier holiday. “You expect a five-star hotel booked through a major travel agent to be safe,” he said. The couple spent another £2,500 on medical care in Egypt before rushing Ariella to a UK hospital, where she died on January 10. Tui is still advertising holidays to the Jaz Makadi Aquaviva, alongside other operators like Thomas Cook and easyJet Holidays. The company says it has taken around 80,000 guests to the hotel since 2022, with illness reports at just 0.3%. In a statement, Tui expressed deep sadness over Ariella’s death and said it had launched an independent health and safety investigation. But for the families involved, the response feels too little, too late. Jatinder Paul, a lawyer representing all three families, argues that Tui knew for 18 months that children were returning seriously ill from this resort. “There is a legal duty to ensure hotels don’t make people sick,” he said. “I want to know why holidaymakers weren’t warned.” Experts point to buffet restaurants and shared water systems in large resorts as common sources of outbreaks. For the parents of little Ariella, the pain is raw. “I still blame myself,” her father admitted. “But they are the ones who should be held accountable, not us.