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Tour company Thomas Cook shuts down, stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers worldwide

The 178-year-old tour company Thomas Cook has shut down, potentially stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers who booked their trips with the company stranded across the globe.

Thomas Cook was known for the package tour industry, The Associated Press reported.

It had four airlines and 21,000 employees in 16 countries. All of the employees have been laid off and will lose their jobs.

The ripple effect of Thomas Cook's collapse is expected to be felt across all of Europe and North Africa, the AP reported.

Officials at hotels are now worried about confirmed bookings that had been made for winter.

About 600,000 people had been scheduled to travel with Thomas Cook through Sunday. Some subsidiaries were trying to get local connections to get people home, the AP reported.

The British government has stepped in to get 150,000 U.K. customers back to their homes starting Monday. The government has hired charter planes to get people home free of charge, and officials expect the process to fly everyone back to the U.K. will take about two weeks, the AP reported.

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There are 50,000 people stranded in Greece, up to 30,000 in Spain's Canary Islands, 21,000 in Turkey and 15,000 in Cyprus all trying to find a way home, the AP reported.

Thomas Cook officials blame competition from budget airlines and travelers booking their trips themselves though the internet as to why the company struggled financially and eventually shut down, the AP reported.

The uncertainty also was brought on by Brexit and the drop in the pound that made it more expensive for British travelers to afford trips abroad, the AP reported.

Despite the fact they no longer are being paid for their work, some Thomas Cook employees are still reporting for their shifts to help make sure those who are stranded can return home, Metro reported.

One now-former employee said on Twitter that she will be at her post to help stranded customers.

Employees at a different Thomas Cook location also posted a sign on their location saying they would open Monday morning to help customers, Metro reported.