Canakkale, Turkey child dies after suspected illegal pesticide use

A nine‑year‑old boy was found dead in an apartment in the western Turkish city of Canakkale. His father discovered the child and his mother unconscious and took them to hospital; the mother remains in treatment.

Turkish authorities arrested the head of a pest‑control firm and a neighbouring resident on suspicion that pesticides used in the adjacent flat caused the poisoning. A second employee of the firm was briefly detained and then released.

The incident revives concerns after a 2025 case in which a German family died from alleged pesticide exposure in an Istanbul hotel, leading to convictions for “conscious negligent homicide.” Researchers from ZDF have identified more than 30 similar suspected poisoning cases in the past four years, prompting calls for stricter regulation and oversight of pest‑control chemicals in private dwellings.