‘Gentle, kind-hearted souls’: Tributes paid to British friends found dead in Portugal

Tributes have been paid to two British friends who died while on holiday in Portugal.

King Edonmi, 29, and Mo Liasu, 27, who are believed to be from Ipswich, were found dead in a hotel swimming pool on Tuesday in Albufeira in the southern Algarve, according to local police.

Both men were named by Portuguese media.

A GoFundMe has been set up by family and friends to repatriate their bodies.

The two friends “tragically lost their lives less than 24 hours after arriving”, the fundraiser said.

Friends paid tribute to the pair as “gentle, kind-hearted souls who brought light into every room they entered”.

Mo and King were “the sort of men you never hear a bad word about because there simply were none,” the GoFundMe said.

“They were deeply devoted to their families, their friends and their faith. And now, all of that has been taken so suddenly and so unfairly.”

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Their families are now facing repatriation costs of more than £10,000, which includes legal paperwork, funeral care overseas, and transport back to the UK, according to the GoFundMe page.

The fundraiser said the sudden loss, paired with the financial burden, has left them struggling to cope.

“We are asking from the bottom of our hearts for your help,” friends wrote on the fundraising page. “Every donation, no matter how big or small, will go directly to their families to help cover the cost of bringing Mo and King home and to support them during this time of unimaginable grief.”

“Your light will never fade,” the tribute added. “Rest peacefully.”

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A spokesperson for the Portuguese Police, Policia Judiciaria, told ITV News that the bodies were found at about 4.30am and officials from Portugal’s National Republican Guard were first on the scene.

"We went to the swimming pool and found CSI work there. There is no criminal evidence involved in the deaths of the two British citizens," the officer said.

"The cause of deaths will be determined by the national medical cabinet in Portugal."

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the families of two British men who have died in Portugal and are in contact with the local authorities.”

The fundraiser can be found here.