Four, including restaurant owners, arrested after deaths of Dutch brothers in Istanbul
Turkish authorities have arrested four people in connection with the deaths of two Dutch brothers, aged 15 and 17, found dead in a hotel room in Istanbul. The suspects include the owners and two employees of the restaurants the teenagers had visited in the city’s Taksim district. According to Turkish media, three of the suspects were conditionally released after questioning, while a fourth was placed under house arrest.
The brothers, who were on vacation with their father, reportedly fell ill on August 20 after visiting the eateries on a busy street in Taksim. They returned to their hotel room and did not go out again that evening. When they failed to check out the following morning, hotel staff entered their room on August 21 and discovered both teenagers dead.
Their father was also found in the room and was rushed to the hospital in "critical condition," but he is no longer. It remains unclear whether the father had joined his sons at the restaurants. He told investigators that he had not consumed food or drinks there, but the reason for his sudden illness has not been clarified. Authorities have suggested he may have gone into shock after finding his sons dead.
Samples of food and drinks from both establishments have been sent to the Turkish forensic institute for analysis. Officials said the results of these tests will be crucial in determining what caused the sudden deaths.
