Authorities in Belize are taking a closer look at the possibility that carbon monoxide poisoning may have played a role in the deaths of three Americans last month.
As the families of the dead released a statement Monday seeking answers one month since their bodies were discovered in their hotel room, the country’s top police official said the resort has temporarily ceased operation.
“It was agreed a second round of testing be done at the hotel,” Police Commissioner Chester Williams said last week at an impromptu news conference captured on video by television station 7 News Belize.
He said previous guests came forward to report they suspected carbon monoxide levels were notable during their own visits to Royal Kahal Beach Resort.
“While they were here, they had done some carbon monoxide testing and they had detected some carbon monoxide,” Williams said.
Carbon monoxide is produced in the combustion process of gas-engine vehicles, gas- and oil-burning furnaces, generators and charcoal grills. Unscented, it stealthily kills hundreds every year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The three women, identified as Wafae El Arar, 26; Imane Mallah, 24; and Kaoutar Naqqad, 23, were found dead in their hotel room Feb. 22 after two days of unsuccessful door knocks prompted hotel staff members to go inside, Williams has said.
The women’s families said in Monday’s statement, provided by their spokesperson: “We are deeply alarmed by news reports which suggest that carbon monoxide levels in the hotel could have been at dangerously high levels and that the resort has now suddenly closed without public explanation. We believe the families of all guests — past and future — deserve a clear explanation for this action.”
Williams initially said that alcohol and “gummies” were found in the room and that each body was discovered next to vomit. He didn’t specify the type of gummies; the confection is popular as a concentrated cannabis product in states where it’s legal. Researchers have noted very few overdose deaths from marijuana.
On Monday, the families said in their statement that they believe the deaths are “suspicious” and want authorities on the case to find the “full truth.”
It wasn’t clear whether the hotel, the Royal Kahal Beach Resort in San Pedro, has reopened.
Belize Tourism Minister Anthony Mahler told Channel 5 Belize that the hotel shut down voluntarily and was implementing “remedial actions.”
The resort could reopen with permission from government authorities, he said.
The general manager of the Royal Kahal, police and other Belize officials didn’t respond to requests for comment Monday night.
Bert Nowak, the resort’s general manager, said in an interview last month that the women were in their second day of a weeklong stay and expressed condolences to their families.
After Williams, the police commissioner, initially said the Belize National Forensic Science Service would determine the cause and manner of death in the case, the bodies were transferred to the women’s home state, Massachusetts.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts chief medical examiner’s office said by email Monday that cause and manner of death were pending and could take more than two more months to determine.
Emilie Ikeda, Nicole Duarte and Colin Sheeley contributed.
