Miracle Colombo City Hostel: Family 'heartbroken' as British travel influencer, 24, dies on 'dream holiday' after 'hostel fumigated for bedbugs'

Ebony McIntosh, 24, was rushed to hospital on Saturday (1 February) after reportedly being poisoned by pesticides used to kill bed bugs at the hostel where she was staying. She, and another guest from Germany, died just hours later after being treated for vomiting, nausea and breathing difficulties.

Ebony was the eldest of four daughters and still lived at the family home in Mickleover, Derbyshire. Ebony had only left the UK for Sri Lanka on January 28, and it was her first stop on a tour of South Asia having spent months planning and researching the trip.

The exact cause of Ebony's death is not known and a post-mortem examination is due to take place to establish the circumstances surrounding it. But reports in Sri Lanka suggest that Ebony and the unnamed German woman may have been poisoned by noxious pesticides intended to treat bed bugs in an adjacent room 72 hours before she collapsed.

The German woman is understood to have stayed in the same room as Ebony at the Miracle Colombo City hostel in the Sri Lankan capital - which has now been shut down by investigators. Ebony's younger sister India posted a moving tribute to her on social media, writing: “To my Ebony, my beautiful sister, thank you, thank you for being my older sister, one better than I could've ever asked for.”

Ebony McIntosh's family are now fundraising on GoFundMe to get her body returned to the UK. The page reads: “We are absolutely heartbroken to share that our beautiful baby girl and big sister Ebony has passed away unexpectedly on the Saturday 1st February 2025, thousands of miles away from 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.

“We are desperate and cannot wait any longer to see her and to bring her home. We are raising money for flight costs, hotel accommodation, emergency passports, vaccinations, visas and funeral services to give her the best send off that she deserves. We need to be with our beautiful Ebony as soon as possible, we hate the thought of her being alone in a foreign country. We want to be able to bring her back home safely to rest. We just need to look after our angel.”