2 Women Die After Hostel Is Fumigated For Bed Bugs: 'A Nightmare'

Two tourists died in Sri Lanka after a room in the hostel where they were staying was fumigated for bed bugs.

Police have launched an investigation into their deaths, according to a report.

Ebony McIntosh, a 24-year-old British woman, and Nadine Raguse, 26, of Germany, died after staying at the Miracle Colombo City Hostel in the country's capital, Sky News reported.

Buddhika Manatunga, a spokesperson for the Sri Lanka Police, said a room had been treated for bed bugs and police are investigating whether the women were poisoned by noxious pesticides.

The hostel has since been closed.

McIntosh, a digital marketing and social media manager from Derby, was taken to the hospital in Colombo after suffering from vomiting, nausea and breathing problems, the report said.

She died three hours later.

Raguse also died after suffering similar symptoms.

An autopsy will be performed on McIntosh when her family arrives in Sri Lanka.

Her family established a GoFundMe page to raise money for them to travel to Sri Lanka and to bring McIntosh home.

"Words cannot begin to express how broken we are, it's been like a nightmare since we found out on Sunday morning, we have prayed and prayed that this can't be true. It couldn't possibly happen to our lovely Ebs," the family wrote on the page.

They said McIntosh flew out of Heathrow airport on Jan. 28 "to follow her dreams of traveling all over South Asia, starting in Sri Lanka. She was full of excitement for her adventures ahead, in typical Ebony style she had spent months researching and planning and drawing up schedules for the coming months."

A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesperson said: "We are supporting the family of a British woman who died in Sri Lanka, and are in contact with the local authorities."