Thomas Cook 'received £3.5m payout' after Corfu hotel gas deaths
Travel firm Thomas Cook has admitted it received compensation after the deaths of two children by carbon monoxide poisoning on holiday in Corfu.
Bobby and Christi Shepherd died in 2006, aged 6 and 7, at the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel they were staying at with their father Neil and his partner Ruth. They were found by a chambermaid in the bungalow where they were staying.
According to ITV News, Thomas Cook would not admit how much compensation they received in 2013, but it has been reported to be around £3.5 million.
Bobby and Christi's parents say they only received a small fraction of the sum.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, the children's mother Sharon said: "It seems our children's lives are worth only a fraction of Thomas Cook's reputation.
"This has never been about money as far as we're concerned, but it incenses us that through all this heartache Thomas Cook quietly set about claiming back its own costs."
According to the Independent, a Thomas Cook spokesman said: "After it was clear that the hotel was responsible for the tragedy, all parties affected were compensated and Thomas Cook received a compensation that partly compensated for the costs related to the incident."
He added that the compensation covered "some of the costs incurred up to and during the trial in Corfu in 2010".
An inquest heard that a faulty hot water boiler was housed close to the bungalow where the family stayed. The children's father and his partner were in a coma when they were found but recovered in hospital.
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