A vacation-turn tragedy has resulted in the death of an American tourist. The tourist, who is a Texas resident, was electrocuted while using a Mexican resort hot tub. The incident also resulted in the injury of his wife.
On Tuesday, June 11, 2024, Jorge Guillen and his wife Lizette Zambrano were using the hot tub in the Sonoran Sea Resort. However, things took a turn around 8:30 in the evening when the couple fell victim to an electric discharge. Consequently, this resulted in the death of 43-year-old Guillen and the injury of 35-year-old Zambrano.
The couple residing in El Paso, Texas, had traveled to Puerto Peñasco in Sonora for a summer vacation. The electric current prevented rescue attempts by various people, according to eyewitnesses. A woman attempted to enter the tub to pull out the couple but was electrocuted. Although a guest was able to rescue Zambrano from the tub, she sustained grievous body injuries that left her unconscious and hospitalized.
The eyewitness testimony is documented in various videos posted online about the traumatic incident. The video highlighted the chaos that ensued during the incident and rescue attempts. Subsequently, when the police arrived at the location, they found Guillen completely submerged in the Jacuzzi.
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After the occurrence of the incident, the resort closed all of its jacuzzis in the area where it occurred. An investigation was also launched to look into the cause of the electric discharge by the office of the state’s attorney general.
The investigation is also looking into the official cause of death for Guillen. However, the victim’s family has filed a lawsuit against the Mexican resort, accusing it of negligence.
According to the lawsuit, the vacation rental provider, Casago International, was sued as a co-defendant alongside High Desert Travel, a travel firm. Casago International is an Arizona-based company that provides short-term vacation and housing rentals and property management services. Both companies have not officially responded to the lawsuit or made a press release.
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The couple’s relative’s attorney, Tej Paranjpe, claimed the resort didn’t inform the couple about the electric current in the hot tub. Paranjpe said, “There was not a single staff member that did anything while Jorge was getting continuously shocked again and again underwater.” Paranjpe is a lawyer at PMR Law, a law firm based in Houston.
Subsequently, a GoFundMe was created for the couple’s family to help them with the expenses that the incident had caused. The fund is intended to help with the transportation of Guillen’s corpse and the medical bill for Zambrano. As of Thursday, June 13, 2024, the account has generated $30,000.
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While rare, experts stress the importance of carefully maintaining hot tub equipment to prevent electrocution from malfunctioning lights and pumps. Between 2002 and 2018, the U.S. CPSC recorded 47 injuries or deaths in hot tubs, pools, and spas nationwide.
In June 2023, a worker in Phoenix died from what seemed to be an electrocution while working on a hot tub inside a fitness club.
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