British Tourist's Drug-Related Death in Bulgaria Occurred 'by Misadventure'

A British holidaymaker has died in Bulgaria's Borovets ski resort after taking a drug she and her friends thought was cocaine.

According to British media reports, Nina Holmes, 33, was heard telling her friends 'this stuff is strong' moments before she collapsed from a heart attack while partying in Borovets in February last year. She was rushed to hospital but her life could not be saved.

Ms. Holmes, from Swansea, Wales, her boyfriend and their friends were drinking at a bar in Borovets when they pooled together the equivalent of some GBP 200 to buy five small bags of cocaine outside a nightclub from a person called Stella, according to the BBC.

The group were concerned about the stuff which was not a white powder as they had expected but was brown or green in colour and was grainy.

Presisely what the bags contained remains unclear but the substance was responsible for the death, an inquest by Swansea Coroners Court was told.

A pathologist told the court Ms Holmes died of a heart attack brought on by poisoning caused by toxicity from a combination of cocaine and alcohol.

A conclusion of death by misadventure was recorded.

At the time, it was reported that eight other British holidaymakers were taken to hospital following a night out in Borovets.

Bulgarian media reported back then that a 25-year-old restaurant worker had been arrested on suspicion of supplying cocaine to British tourists.

British police are no longer involved in the case and are not seeking charges, according to British television network ITV.