An American tourist was killed after being electrocuted in a hot tub in a Mexican beach town earlier this week, an incident that prompted the family to sue the resort for wrongful death and negligence, their lawyers said. The man’s wife tried to save her drowning husband after he was zapped by the current, but she herself was electrocuted and hospitalized with serious injuries, according to the lawsuit.
The injured woman, Lizette Zambrano, 35, filed a lawsuit Friday seeking $1 million in damages from the resort’s U.S.-based operators from her hometown of El Paso, Texas, a few days after being evacuated from the resort’s spa. town of Puerto Peñasco, an hour south of the border.
The Arizona-based defendants, vacation rental provider Casago International and travel agency High Desert Travel, did not respond to a request for comment on the suit, which holds them responsible for faulty electrical wiring at the spa which caused the electrocution of the couple and 43- death of Jorge Guillen, 1 year old.
GoFundMe
In addition to failing to warn and warn guests of the spa’s dangers, resort managers also failed to respond quickly enough to the emergency, according to the complaint.
The tragedy occurred when Zambrano, her husband Guillen and several other family members arrived at the Sonoran Sea Resort, a high-rise complex, on Tuesday for their vacation, according to the lawsuit. Zambrano and Guillen headed to the hot tub to watch the sun set over the sea.
They didn’t know that an electric current was rippling through the spa water.
“It’s absolutely terrifying,” Tej Paranjpe, an attorney with Houston-based PMR Law, told the Associated Press.
The moment Guillen dipped his foot in the hot tub, the current zapped him. He fell into a direct electrical circuit and quickly found himself trapped underwater.
Zambrano jumped in to save her drowning husband, then was buffeted by the current and sucked in as well, according to the lawsuit. Cellphone footage of the incident shows the oceanfront pool deck descending into chaos as screaming guests rush in, try to help the couple, then discover the danger from the spa water. The video appears to show someone trying to perform chest compressions on a person lying on the ground.
While one guest managed to pull Zambrano out of the water, efforts to retrieve Guillen with poles and various metal tools only resulted in more and more people being shocked, according to the lawsuit.
“Not a single staff member did anything while Jorge was constantly being electrocuted over and over again underwater,” Paranjpe said.
Ten minutes passed, according to Zambrano’s lawyers, until resort workers responded to vacationers’ calls for help. The manager finally managed to retrieve Guillen from the back of the spa, but it was too late.
Zambrano was flown by helicopter to Phoenix, Arizona, and released from the hospital Friday.
Mexican prosecutors in Sonora state said investigators were studying “the origin of the electrical outage” and would conduct field visits in the coming days.
“A heart of gold”
Jim Ringquist, director of sales for Sonoran Resorts Inc., said in a statement last week: “We are all terribly devastated by the tragedy that recently occurred at Sonoran Sea Resort. »
He also said the company’s CEO, Fernando Anaya, died suddenly Wednesday of a heart attack, “adding another unfortunate tragedy to an already sad situation.”
A GoFundMe launched for the couple had raised more than $55,000 as of June 19.
“Jorge had a heart of gold and was always there for his family and friends,” says GoFundMe. “The love they shared lasted for ages.”
Spa electrocution due to faulty underwater lighting and faulty pumps remains rare, but experts warn that vigilance is necessary to ensure the equipment is properly maintained.
Between 2002 and 2018, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported 47 incidents involving injury or death at hot tubs, pools and spas nationwide.
Last June, a man died after an apparent electrocution while repairing a hot tub at a Phoenix fitness center.