THE FAMILY of a Bolton pensioner who died from a mystery holiday illness was in mourning at her funeral today.

And it has been revealed that only eight weeks before Elsie Ord caught a killer bug in the Spanish resort of Benidorm, another hotel was evacuated after an outbreak of deadly Legionnaire's disease.

Mrs Ord was due to be cremated this morning at Overdale Crematorium following a service at St James's Church, Bolton.

The 77-year-old, of Old Hall Lane, Daisy Hill, died a week after coming home from a fortnight in Benidorm.

Five other pensioners in Mrs Ord's group also fell ill, with two admitted to intensive care.

Only two months before the group from Westhoughton went on the trip, a hotel was partially closed after three people were diagnosed with Legionnaire's disease.

Two hundred holiday makers were transferred to other hotels in Benidorm. Some may have been sent to the same hotel complex, Sol Ocas/Sol Pelicanos, where the six pensioners stayed.

The Hotel Selomar, about 500 metres from the Hotel Sol Ocas, was hit by deadly Legionnaires disease at Christmas.

Mrs Ord arrived home on March 3 after falling ill during her trip and was put on a course of antibiotics.

Six days later, she was rushed to the Royal Bolton Hospital with a severe chest infection but died the next day.

Her friend, Annie Aldred, 80, of St James Street, Daisy Hill, was also rushed to the Royal Bolton Hospital days after returning home.

She is making a recovery and her family are anxiously waiting for the results of tests.

Ann Horrocks, 76, of Park Road, Westhoughton, spent more than a week in an intensive care clinic in Benidorm but is now back at home recovering.

All three had been suffering severe chest infections which developed into pneumonia.

The other women on the trip were Margaret Davies, 68, of Tithe Barn Street, Edna Rothwell, 73, of Upper Lees Drive, and Isabel Fisher, 80, of Holinacre.

All the women, who are members of the Friendship Club which meets at Carnegie Hall, are in their 70s and 80s.

Severe

They booked a holiday at the 318-room three star hotel Sol Ocas, 300m from Levante Beach in the northern end of the resort with Direct Holidays.

But Direct Holidays has denied there is anything wrong with the hotel and put the mystery illness down to a severe flu epidemic in the resort.

Initial tests for Legionnaires disease have proved negative.

Dr Robert Aston said: "The Legionnaire bug is with us all the time but needs warm, still water and it can then multiply.

"People fall ill when they breath in large amounts although it does not spread like a traditional germ through contact."

The result of a post mortem examination on Mrs Ord - which could rule out the disease - is not expected for two weeks.

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