A man was killed and his wife was injured this June when they were exposed to electrical current in the spa at a Mexican resort. A week later, the wife filed a lawsuit against the American-owned resort.
The incident occurred on June 11 at the Sonoran Sea Resort in Rocky Point, Mexico, a popular destination for U.S. tourists on the Gulf of California, near Arizona.
Lizette Zambrano, 35, and her husband, Jorge Guillen, 43, were there on vacation with several other family members when they headed out to the pool and spa area to watch the sunset. Immediately upon dipping his foot into the spa, Guillen was exposed to electrical current, which caused him to fall into the spa, where he continued to be shocked and trapped underwater.
Witnessing this, Zambrano, who did not understand the source of her husband’s trouble, jumped in to rescue him, only to be shocked herself.
“The last thing I remember him saying is ‘Oh s—.’” Zambrano said in an interview with Good Morning America. “And it’s the same time that I felt the first electric shock and then it happened over and over and over and I didn’t hear him again.”
Cellphone footage of the incident shows the beachfront pool deck erupt into pandemonium as screaming bystanders tried to help the couple and also became shocked. The lawsuit states that a hotel guest managed to drag Zambrano out of the water, but efforts to retrieve Guillen with poles and various metal tools only continued to shock the would-be rescuers. Electrocute
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According to Zambrano’s lawyers, 10 minutes passed before workers at the resort responded to guests’ screams for help. The manager of the hotel finally succeeded in retrieving Guillen from the bottom of the spa, but he was already dead.
Zambrano said she was pulled out of the spa with no pulse. She was given CPR and medically evacuated by helicopter to Phoenix, Arizona, where she regained consciousness. She was discharged from the hospital on June 14 and filed a lawsuit against the resort that day.
Arizona-based property managers and vacation rental providers Casago International, LLC, Casago, LLC, and High Desert Travel, LLC, are named as defendants.
The lawsuit states that in addition to preventing and warning guests about the electrical hazard in the spa, employees and resort managers failed to react quickly enough to the emergency. Electrocute
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“At no time prior to this did defendants seek to engage the emergency shutoff for the jacuzzi or attempt any rescue of either Jorge or Lizzette,” the lawsuit states. “Jorge was being electrocuted and drowned underwater for 10 minutes.”
Electrical wiring in the spa was faulty and had not been fixed by the defendants, the lawsuit alleges.
“The faulty jacuzzi on the defendants’ premise constituted a dangerous condition,” the lawsuit states. “The dangerous condition on the premise posed an unreasonable risk of harm as it was not readily apparent to plaintiff (Zambrano) thus creating a situation where the presence of the dangerous condition could cause invitees to become injured and resulted in death. Defendants breached their duty of ordinary care by failing to adequately maintain the premise and the condition and/ or failing to make the condition reasonably safe.”
Attorneys said that it is the responsibility of the property owner to ensure the inspection and maintenance of the resort’s appliances, and they should be held liable for the injury and death. Hot tub electroshock drownings due to faulty lighting and electrical systems are rare, attorney’s said that it is the owner’s responsibility to ensure that spas are safe.
The Sonoran Sea Resort released the following statement: “We are devastated by what has occurred, and our hearts are with the family and the victims of this terrible incident. The Sonoran Sea is a condo resort, and the homeowner’s 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. We need to refer you to the Sonoran Sea HOA for further comment as they are solely responsible for the resort and its maintenance. Our understanding is that the formal investigation of the incident is 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.”
The lawsuit seeks $1 million in damages from Casago and High Desert Travel. It asks for the defendants to pay for the “pain and suffering,” and “earnings loss” of Guillen. It asks for damages for the “mental anguish endured by Lizzette as a result of her injuries” and for medical, funeral, and burial expenses.
It also requests a restraining order preventing the defendants “from repairing, utilizing, or destroying any evidence from the jacuzzi involved in the incident.”
