Three Americans who were found dead in mysterious circumstances at a resort in the Bahamas in May died of carbon monoxide poisoning, authorities said.
“At the time of the investigation, we can officially confirm that all three victims died as a result of asphyxiation from carbon monoxide poisoning,” the Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a statement on Tuesday.
The deaths stunned investigators who were called to the Sandals resort on Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas on May 6 after a staff member found one of the tourists, a man, unresponsive at his villa, police said.
Authorities were then told that two more people, a man and a woman, had gone unresponsive in another villa. A doctor pronounced all three dead, police said. A fourth American, a woman, was flown to a Florida hospital and survived.
Officials said they suspected no malicious intent. At least two of the victims had convulsions but showed no signs of trauma, police said at the time.
Bahamian authorities have ordered autopsies on the victims and sent samples from the villas to a lab in Philadelphia to determine if “contaminants are present,” Royal Bahamas Police Force Commissioner Paul A. Rolle said at the time.
The woman who survived, Donnis Chiarella, 65, was flown to Miami’s HCA Florida Kendall Hospital in fair condition, said Jennifer Guerrieri, a hospital spokeswoman, last month. Ms. Chiarella was released on May 13.
The victims were identified as Mrs. Chiarella’s husband Vincent Paul Chiarella, 64, of Florida, and a married couple from Tennessee: Michael Phillips, 68, and Robbie Phillips, 65.
They had been found unresponsive in two villas — one on a bed, one on the floor and one slumped against a bathroom wall, police said at the time.
Authorities did not say what the source of the carbon monoxide was, but said the matter was the subject of an “active investigation”.
In a statement on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Sandals Resorts said the company has “fully supported the investigation into this event to ensure we are doing everything possible to learn from it.”
The deaths, she said, were “an isolated incident” that took place in a structure with two individual guest rooms.
She said the resort had installed carbon monoxide detectors in all of its rooms and that “detectors will be installed in all rooms across the portfolio.” Sandals operates 16 resorts, including two in the Bahamas.
“Ensuring the safety and well-being of our guests and team members is and will always be our top priority,” she added.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas produced by combustion, including the combustion of gasoline, kerosene, diesel, natural gas, or other fuels in an engine or generator.
