British travel firm Thomas Cook collapses, stranding hundreds of thousands

The world's oldest travel firm Thomas Cook collapsed on Monday, stranding hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers around the globe and sparking the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history.

The liquidation marks the end of one of Britain's oldest companies that started life in 1841 running local rail excursions before it survived two world wars to pioneer package holidays and mass tourism. 

The firm ran hotels, resorts and airlines for 19 million people a year in 16 countries.

It currently has 600,000 people abroad, forcing governments and insurance companies to coordinate a huge rescue operation.

Chief Executive Peter Fankhauser said it was a matter of profound regret that the company had gone out of business after it failed to secure a rescue package from its lenders in frantic talks that went through the weekend.

The UK's Civil...