Court documents have revealed the horrifying moment a man was electrocuted to death in a hot tub at a resort as his wife desperately leapt in to try and save him while staff allegedly looked on without “doing anything”.
Husband and wife Jorge Guillen, 43, and Lizette Zambrano, 35, were holidaying at the Sonoran Sea Resort in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, when they decided to enjoy a hot tub on the evening of June 11. However as soon as he got in the water "Jorge was exposed to an electrical current" and "keeled over," according to details filed in a wrongful death lawsuit by Lizette, who was also critically injured in the incident.
She “sprang forward from the pool deck to try and grab Jorge’s body from the jacuzzi. However, upon touching Jorge and the water, Lizette was electrically shocked" and fell back into the tub. As other guests at the resort realised what was going on they sprang into action - while onlookers were able to rescue Lizette, her husband was not so fortunate.
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"Patrons attempted to assist, grabbing a shepherd’s cross and other items...However, the metal from the objects carried the electrical current and began shocking the rescuers," the complaint read, according to People magazine. The suit alleges that it was 10 minutes before the resort staff finally used “the emergency shutoff for the jacuzzi" or attempted "any rescue of either Jorge or Lizette."
The manager eventually retrieved Jorge's body from the tub but it was too late. "It's absolutely terrifying," attorney Tej Paranjpe told the Associated Press in a statement, alleging that there "was not a single staff member that did anything while Jorge was getting continuously shocked again and again underwater."
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Lizette has now filed a lawsuit seeking $1 million (£789,000) in damages from the US-based resort operators from her hometown of El Paso, Texas. The suit says that The Arizona-based defendants, vacation rental provider Casago International and travel company High Desert Travel are responsible for the faulty wiring in the tub. Mexican prosecutors in Sonora state reported that investigators were looking into “the origin of the electrical failure" and would conduct field visits in the coming days.
"There is no reason this should have happened. Hotels and resorts have a duty to ensure guest safety," attorney Tej Paranjpe said in a press release about the lawsuit. "At no point did resort staff think to engage an emergency shut-off, not to mention warn guests of a faulty, dangerous amenity.”
“Due to the unsafe manner in which the Defendants operated its Premise, Plaintiff suffered and sustained bodily injuries resulting from the incident,” the lawsuit stated. “These injuries caused Plaintiff to sustain damages including past and future medical bills, and pain and suffering and mental anguish.”
Casago International told Mirror Online they were not responsible for the upkeep of the facilities at the resort. "We are devastated by what has occurred and our hearts are with the family and the victims of this terrible incident," a spokesperson said. "The Sonoran Sea is a condo resort and the homeowners association is responsible for all common areas, including the maintenance of the swimming pool, hot tubs, and grounds. Casago, a vacation rental company, is not involved in any management or maintenance of the resort. Regarding this incident, our involvement ends at the individual condo reservation.
"Our understanding is that the formal investigation of the incident is already underway. While we have no involvement in the maintenance or repair of common areas at the resort, we will continue to cooperate fully if there’s anything we can offer."