Tour operator faces compensation claim after holiday ordeal

Posted 19/03/2010

The victims of an armed gang who were attacked while on their holidays are seeking personal injury compensation from their tour operator.

David and Christine Smith had booked a three-week break to Mombasa in Kenya with Somak Holidays for their silver wedding anniversary.

However, on their ninth night, they were awoken by an armed gang bursting into their beachside hotel.

The couple were held at gun and knifepoint while they were robbed and then frogmarched to the hotel’s restaurant.

It was only when the ringleader turned away that the Smiths were able to escape and hide in a nearby cave until dawn.

They are now taking legal action against Somak Holidays for failing to provide a secure perimeter and only employing local tribesmen as guards.

“It was absolutely terrifying. It was supposed to be the holiday of a lifetime and it turned into a holiday from hell,” Mrs Smith remarked.

A spokesperson for the tour operator said what happened to the Smiths was “highly unusual” and assured travellers that the properties it uses are safe.

It was recently reported by the Express that Thomas Cook is being sued by a family whose two children died after inhaling fumes from a faulty boiler in a holiday home.