Turkish court issues arrest warrant over tourist poisoning case
ANKARA. June 14. KAZINFORM The Turkish court has issued warrants to arrest three people involved in the poisoning of Russian tourists by bootleg alcohol, the Anatolian news agency reported on Tuesday. A barman and one of the owners of the yacht where the tragedy occurred are among them; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.
These three were suspects in the case and were earlier released on bail.
A yacht tour, which a private company arranged in the Turkish resort town of Bodrum on May 26-27, ended in a tragedy. Twenty-one Russian tourists got poisoned and were taken to hospitals with the symptoms of an acute alcohol poisoning. Four Russian nationals have died.
Local authorities made checks on board the yacht and seized Mister Burdon whiskey, which had been imported in Turkey from northern Cyprus by a company called Jasmine.
A company named Birlik Gida based in Ankara sold several thousand bottles of bootleg whiskey at local markets in four provinces. Turkish police carried out an inspection at the place of company registration and determined the address was fictitious.