A Stonehaven mum has revealed she still gets triggered more than two weeks after her dream holiday turned into a nightmare as smoke began pouring into their hotel room.
Julie Dickson, 41, was on holiday in Marmaris, Turkey, with her husband John, 43, and son Conner, 14.
Travelling with Jet2holidays, they had booked a £1,400 all-inclusive holiday for a week at the Grand Yazici Club Marmaris Palace.
Julie told The Press and Journal they had been thoroughly enjoying the trip and the hotel itself – until their sixth and final night.
Fast asleep on the morning of April 4, Julie was awoken at 5am by loud banging on her third-floor room’s door.
‘There were people in underwear and pyjamas in the hotel hallway’
Groggily, she made her way to the door and opened it to find it full of fellow guests rushing past in sheer panic.
“We were woken up really early because of banging and a commotion outside our door,” she said.
“We could smell smoke right away. It smelt like diesel.
“I opened the door and there were loads of people in the hallway in their pyjamas and underwear.
“The guys working the night shift were banging on people’s doors because there were no fire alarms going off.
“I couldn’t see any flames, but there was a lot of thick smoke.
“Everyone was terrified.
“There were older people shaking, trying to get down the unlit spiral staircase.”
Dream holiday turned nightmare for Stonehaven family
Julie went on to say few of the staff spoke English and there was a lack of clear communication with guests.
She was later told there had been an electrical fault in the plant room on the floor above and that, due to this, smoke was making its way through the air conditioning system.
Describing the evacuation as “pure pandemonium”, the family, originally from Stonehaven, were able to get out and then wait by the side of the road.
While they may have escaped the hotel, the family’s ordeal was not over as Conner, a Type 1 diabetic, began suffering from hypoglycaemia while waiting outside.
Julie said: “We didn’t have any of his medication with us – I mean, we didn’t even have shoes on.
“My son was outside in just his boxer shorts because we just didn’t have time to grab anything.
“Conner started to go into ‘hypo’ – it must have been the adrenaline – and we didn’t have any glucose to give him, so we asked the police and they gave us some chewing gum.
“Luckily, we found some people we had made friends with and actually Conner had given her some sweets the night before.
“She still had them in her bag, which she had managed to grab – so it saved him, because we were really starting to panic.”
Julie said some people on the fourth floor were forced to remain on their balconies as smoke filled the hotel.
‘People were terrified’
Eventually, after two hours, Julie said all guests had been evacuated from the hotel.
It’s understood 11 people were taken to hospital.
Alternative accommodation was found for the guests and it was from another hotel that Julie’s husband, John, called Jet2.
According to Julie, Jet2 had yet to be informed of the incident but representatives leapt into action to assist the hundreds of families in distress.
She recalls that many of the guests were suffering from coughing fits and says she could still “taste” the smoke five days after the incident.
The Dickson family were able to return to their room just after midday.
Many returning guests found their rooms and belongings covered in thick soot.
Thankfully Julie had packed most of their luggage as they were due to leave at 5pm.
Given the ordeal, their departure was pushed back to 10pm.
The traumatic ordeal has left a lasting impression on Julie, who admits to feeling anxious at small things.
She said: “Since we’ve been home I have freaked out at silly things.
“We were at the train station and when the fire alarm went off, I just started shaking.
“I was using my oven the other day and I could smell something plastic burning, and it just affected me.”
She is seeking compensation from Jet2holidays for what happened.
However, she said their initial offer of just £90 was “absolutely unacceptable”.
What is Jet2’s response?
A Jet2holidays spokesperson said: “We can confirm that all occupants of the Grand Yazici Club Marmaris Palace, including Jet2holidays customers, were evacuated on Friday April 4, following a fire in the boiler room.
“We moved all customers to other properties and our teams provided assistance and support to everyone who required it.
“We understand the hotelier and local authorities are carrying out a full investigation and we await the results of that.
“In the meantime, we are in contact with Mr and Mrs Dickson and will be in touch with them directly once the results of investigations are complete.”
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