Sandals Says Tourists’ Deaths At Bahamas Resort Were Due To Carbon Monoxide

The Bahamas location of resort chain Sandals has claimed that the three recent deaths of tourists in their rooms were due to carbon monoxide poisoning. While imminent autopsies and toxicology reports haven’t confirmed this, Bahamian media has been reporting carbon monoxide as the cause.

Sandals Resort Cause Of Death

The American victims were two married couples: Michael and Robbie Phillip and Vincent and Donnis Chiarella. Donnis was the only survivor and continues to recover at the Florida hospital she was airlifted to. Her symptoms were said to be severe swelling and paralysis.

When releasing the victims’ identities, Bahamian police commissioner Paul Rolle did not speculate on their causes of death, but the general police opinion seems to be that foul play is not suspected. Rolle also noted at a May 9 press conference that all of the guests “reported feeling ill” the night before their deaths and were consulted by a medical team.

According to Sandals, local police, “have concluded the cause was an isolated incident in one standalone structure that house two individual guest rooms and was. in no way linked to the resort’s air conditioning system, food and beverage service, landscaping services or foul play.” The account by Sandals’ wasn’t fully verified by the relevant Bahamian authorities, but nothing contradicting that has come from them either.

The families of the victims requested a second, independent autopsy from the one conducted in the Bahamas. Autopsy reports and a full toxicology test result, which was fast-tracked with the assistance of a lab in Philadelphia, will be released to the public shortly.

In response to the deaths, Sandals also announced that it would be placing carbon monoxide detectors in all rooms in the Bahamas resort as well as every room “throughout the portfolio” of Sandals’ Caribbean resort locations.