A weekend trip to the capital ended in heartbreak for a Glasgow family after 26-year-old Samorine Djene Touré was found dead in a London hotel room following concerns raised by her twin sister.
Touré, a ScotRail employee described by her family as “completely healthy” and full of life, had traveled to London over the bank holiday weekend. But as hours passed without hearing from her, her family grew increasingly alarmed.
Her twin sister, Samyra, contacted the Paragraph Edmonton hotel in Kendal Gardens on Sunday, May 4, and asked the manager to check on her. Moments later, she received a call from paramedics with devastating news — Samorine had passed away.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that officers responded to the hotel shortly after 11:25 a.m. and that Touré was declared dead at the scene. While her death is currently being treated as “unexpected but not suspicious,” a post-mortem examination is pending.
Samorine’s death has left her family shattered. Samyra’s partner, James Aitken, described the scene when the news broke.
“She completely broke down. Their stepdad and little brother arrived at the same time as me and they were absolutely distraught, screaming and wailing – we all were,” he told GlasgowLive.
Originally from the Yoker area of Glasgow, Samorine was a former pupil at Knightswood Secondary School. When not working at Glasgow Central Station, she spent time doting on her nieces and nephews, praying regularly, studying Arabic, and teaching the language to her extended family.
“She loved life and was so happy,” Aitken said. “She loved to travel and had a beautiful dog she adored. For the past few months she was praying five times a day. She was really trying to be the best person she could.”
The family, who have roots in the Ivory Coast, are now working to repatriate Samorine’s body so she can be buried in her homeland — a tradition that holds deep meaning in West African culture.
A GoFundMe page launched by Aitken has already raised over £5,000 (a little over $6,500) toward this effort.
“Samyra should be back from Paris on Thursday and will travel to London to find out what’s happening,” Aitken added. “We’re just waiting on the post-mortem results so we can bring her home.”
The Metropolitan Police continue to investigate and await formal findings from the coroner’s office.
If you’d like to support the Touré family’s repatriation efforts, the GoFundMe campaign remains open to the public.
