178-year-old Thomas Cook collapses with 600,000 tourists stranded abroad

London: British travel firm Thomas Cook collapsed into bankruptcy on Monday, leaving some 600,000 holidaymakers stranded and sparking the UK's biggest repatriation since World War II.

The 178-year-old debt-plagued group, which had struggled against the fierce online competition for some time and blamed Brexit uncertainty for a recent drop in bookings, failed to secure 200 million pounds (USD 250 million, 227 million euros) from private investors and collapsed in the early hours.

Monday's bankruptcy, which followed a lengthy period of chronic financial turmoil after a disastrous 2007 merger deal, left some 600,000 tourists stranded worldwide according to Thomas Cook, while its 22,000 staff are now out of a job.

The British government launched emergency plans to bring some 150,000 UK holidaymakers back home from destinations including Bulgaria, Cuba, Turkey and the United States.

Meanwhile, Thomas Cook (India) is currently putting all its effort to clarify that the two companies are not related.

The Indian travel firm in a statement said that Thomas Cook India Group is a completely different entity since August 2012. It was acquired by Fairfax Financial Holdings (Fairfax), a Canada-based multinational via a 77 percent stake in 2012.

"Post transfer of its entire stake in Thomas Cook (India) Limited to Fairfax, Thomas Cook UK ceased to be the promoter of Thomas Cook (India) Limited from the said date and since then, Thomas Cook UK has had no stake in Thomas Cook (India) Limited," the statement said.

"The media updates on Thomas Cook UK have no correlation. This is why there is no impact on Thomas Cook India," the statement added.