'We only survived Turkey hotel fire after screams woke us - no alarms sounded'

A woman who feared she and her husband were going to die trapped in their top floor hotel room when a fire broke out, revealed they even said their goodbyes to each other.

Cherie James was holidaying in a five-star hotel in Marmaris with Tui when she and husband Sean were woken in the night by screams of ‘fire’. Their room quickly filled with thick black smoke and they were forced out on the balcony so they could breathe, and had to wait a terrifying three hours until they were rescued.

Haunted by what took place back in April, Cherie is now speaking out and calling on holiday companies to ensure all hotels offered to Brit tourists are compliant with fire safety. Cherie said no fire alarms sounded, no sprinkler system was activated, and she and Sean, both 57, found there was no escape to get them down the five floors to safety.

READ MORE: Inside Mia O'Brien's 'living hell' as Brit student, 23, jailed for life in Dubai

READ MORE: Prince Harry visit LIVE as Duke lands in UK and heads to late Queen's grave

"Me and my husband were saying our goodbyes to each other, certain we were going to die, and that will haunt me forever," Cherie said.

“You go on holiday to have a fantastic time, not to think about things like fire safety, which I took for granted – you just presume that’s all been taken care of, but it’s not always the case. You never think it’s going to happen, but my experience shows it does,"

The couple, who have two adult children, were flown home early by Tui following their ordeal, and received a refund, but despite pleas for answers from the package holiday company about where the fire started and how, Cherie claims she has had no response to date.

Since the holiday in April, Cherie has suffered from PTSD and is having counselling offered by Tui, and she also subsequently sought medical advice after a burn she suffered turned septic.

Cherie, from Blackwood in Caerphilly, who retired last November from her job in retail to travel more with Sean who works in the steel industry, is now calling for all tour operators to make it mandatory for hotels to have appropriate fire safety measures in place.

She added: "In the UK, all hotels have fire alarms which are tested regularly, it’s just what happens in this day and age. But overseas, clearly it is different. When I tell people what happened to us, they say ‘It’s because it’s Turkey’ – but we booked with TUI, so why aren’t they checking to make sure fire safety measures are taken and that they’re working?

“I don’t think they should be sending people to hotels if they’re at risk. I can’t face going abroad again, so we’ve booked an AirBnB cottage, and it says really clearly on the listing that there is a fire safety system in place – shouldn’t the companies who are sending us to hotels around the world do this as well?”

Cherie is being supported by travel specialists at law firm Slater and Gordon. Darren Dyke, associate (litigation executive) at the firm, said: “This was an absolutely horrendous ordeal for Cherie and the many other holidaymakers who were involved in this fire, and Cherie is suffering badly from the impact of that. The trauma and memory of what happened that night will most likely stay with her forever.

“Holidaymakers need the assurance that they and their families are going to be safe, and fire safety should be an absolute priority for tour operators. Functioning safety systems in overseas accommodation should be non-negotiable and operators really need to be upping their game in ensuring this is routinely the case. We wholeheartedly support Cherie in her calls for operators to ensure life-saving safety systems are mandatory.”

Tui issued a statement following the fire back in April. It read: "We would like to apologise to customers whose holidays were impacted following a contained fire at the Grand Yazici Marmaris Club Palace in Turkey earlier this year.

"Our team did their best to work with local authorities and support customers on the ground, offering them any help that they needed, including arranging alternative accommodation and flights home. We would like to reassure customers that their safety is our most important priority."