Suspected food poisoning kills mother and two children at popular Istanbul tourist site

Two children and their mother died, and the father had to fight for his life, after eating street food at a popular tourist site in Istanbul, Turkish officials and media said on Friday.

The family reportedly fell ill on Wednesday after eating several popular street food dishes at a restaurant in the riverside neighborhood of Ortakoy, at the foot of a bridge crossing the Bosphorus.

The family, who was in Fatih district, fell ill shortly after and was rushed to hospital, but the two children, aged six and three, died, Istanbul regional health chief Abdullah Emre Guner said in X on Thursday.

The mother and father are being treated in intensive care and an investigation has been opened, he said.

The mother died shortly after, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc wrote in X on Friday.

“Samples have been taken from places where the family is known to have eaten and four people… have been detained,” the minister wrote.

Guner said the provincial health department has launched an investigation.

Some media reports said the family had eaten mussels with rice, a popular snack often sold by street vendors, as well as “kumpir,” stuffed roast potatoes.

Other reports said they had eaten kokorec, a popular dish of grilled lamb entrails, and also mentioned Turkish delight, saying the family was a Turkish family living in Germany and had come to Istanbul on vacation.

The incident in Türkiye comes about five months after two butcher shops in northern France temporarily closed. after a girl died due to severe food poisoning.

Foodborne illnesses kill more than 900 Americans a year and sicken tens of millions a year, federal researchers said in a published report earlier this year. The actual number of people who become ill from eating food is unknown and is likely much higher than official figures, as only a small percentage of illnesses linked to contaminated food are diagnosed and reported to public health officials.

Last year in the United States, a listeria outbreak related to the recalled Boar’s Head deli meat killed at least 10 people and sickened dozens more.