'We got caught in TUI hotel gunfight, my wife is haunted by what we saw'

Daily Mirror

6 days ago

Colin Nulty, his wife and 14-year-old daughter were left fearing for their lives after a gunfight broke out at the pool of the luxury Mexico hotel they were staying at
Colin Nulty expected to enjoy the holiday of a lifetime when he booked a £8,000 trip to Mexico with his wife and daughter. Instead, they ended up cowering beneath their sun loungers, thinking they were going to die.
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Their nightmare unfolded as Colin and his wife relaxed by the pool at the Riu Palace Costa Mujeres with Tui in April. Their 14-year-old daughter had just gone upstairs back to the room.
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Suddenly gun shots were fired just metres away. Frantic, the couple dived beneath their loungers while a petrified Colin texted their daughter, urging her to stay put and secure the door. It comes after one expert claimed 'I'm a pilot with 10,000 flight hours but I won't go near this place'.
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The frefighter from Bolton told The Mirror: "We were sunbathing by the side of the pool and positioned right next to the Tequila Bar, near to where they serve the drinks, as that was our usual spot.
"Our daughter had just left us to go upstairs. My wife and I decided to go for a cigarette at our usual spot down the ramp to the beach. Gunfire erupted and my wife and I instinctively ran back to our sun lounger and hid behind while crouching on the floor.
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"My wife was crying, and people were running everywhere trying to hide behind something. I messaged my daughter whilst hiding, telling her to stay in the room, stay quiet, and lock the door as there is a shooting going on."
With a quarter-century of service in the fire brigade under his belt, courageous Colin seized a lull in the gunfire to emerge from his hiding spot and see if he could help anyone.
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"I have advanced trauma care skills," he said. "I assessed the scene and told my wife I was going to see who had been shot and if I could help them. No shots had been heard for a while, so I deemed this a suitable risk if it saved a life. I approached the bar, scanning for gunmen, and I could see the man on the floor was displaying what we term in the services as 'injuries incompatible with life'. He was already past help.
"It is at this moment that a man with a gun came out of the male toilet door, and he was very agitated but in control and scanning for threats. In hindsight, he seemed trained and held his weapon in a controlled manner. He shouted at me to go away and also shouted at a group of American teenagers who were filming the events unfolding on their mobiles.
"I realised this was very much still an active situation and ran back to my wife and moved her from behind the sunbed to down the embankment, which provided more protection. We stayed down until one of the pool workers told everyone to leave the pool and clear the area.
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"We decided to go to our room ASAP, and to do this, we had to pass within eye line of the dead man, and my wife was shocked and horrified at what she saw. When we returned to our room, our daughter was terrified, and she thought someone was attacking tourists. She was visibly shaking, and it took a lot of reassurance to convince her that everything was ok and she was safe."
After the harrowing experience, the family were desperate to vacate the hotel and were offered three alternative accommodations by TUI that same night, as they awaited their transfer the next day.
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Colin said the family "didn't even feel safe enough to leave the room for a meal", and ordered a pizza to their room instead. The nightmare continued when, on the way to their new hotel, Colin stopped at a shop and told the cashier they were en route to the Princess Hotel.
To his horror, he was shown a breaking news alert on her phone about a "large-scale shootout at the gate to the Princess Hotel after a kidnapping attempt."
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In a panic, Colin made the driver return to the original hotel to speak with a TUI representative, and they stayed there before flying back home the next day.
That's when it became clear that the trauma wasn't something they could just move on from. Struggling to cope with the hell she had endured, Colin's wife was diagnosed with PTSD, which he says significantly affects their "day-to-day life."
"These events had a big impact on my wife's daily life and still do to this day. It has had a massive impact on the dynamics of the home and day-to-day life of going out and walking our dogs. Everything has changed since the holiday.
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"My wife has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with Severe Emotional Dissociation. She is on the waiting list to receive treatment and counselling."
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Reflecting on the "terrifying" ordeal, Colin stated: "It was horrific and terrifying without a doubt. The fear of thinking you are in the middle of a terrorist attack of some kind is scary indeed. We were unaware until some time after the incident that it was an undercover police operation gone wrong, so, of course, we thought it was terror-related."
A spokeswoman for Riu Hotels and Resorts confirmed that the shooting was part of an "operation carried out by the Prosecutor's Office targeting a group of drug dealers in the area".
"The individuals involved in the incident were armed when they entered our facilities," she added.
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Despite Colin's request for a full holiday refund, TUI has only reimbursed him for eight days of the trip, amounting to £3,873.57, and offered a £1,000 TUI voucher as compensation following another incident.
Colin says: "We were refunded exactly eight days of the holiday, their reasoning being we had a nice time up until the shooting incident.
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"Initially, TUI was responsive to emails and I had many phone conversations with a handler. However, I have never received anything in writing from them acknowledging the incident, or anything saying they are refunding or compensating.
"They have since refused to answer any of my correspondence or comment on this case with any other companies or media offices that have contacted them."
Feeling he has no other option, Colin has sought advice from ABTA, the Association of British Travel Agents, and is considering taking his case to the small claims court.
He further stated: "I only ever asked for a full refund of the holiday, but TUI's refusal has left me no choice other than to go through ABTA and then small claims court. They have made it so hard for us and they do this intentionally hoping I will just stop, but I won't."