An American tourist died, and another was injured, after an electrical malfunction in a hot tub at a Rocky Point resort on Tuesday, Sonora state officials said.
Forensic experts are investigating the cause of the electrical discharge at a private condominium complex, which led to the death of the tourist, identified only as Jorge, 43, and the injury of another identified as Lizeth, a spokesman for the Sonora Attorney General’s office said Wednesday.
The incident happened at the Sonoran Sea resort, said Sara Gaitan-Perez, a registered nurse from Goodyear, Arizona, who is staying there. She and others attempted to revive the victims, she wrote in a Wednesday Facebook message to the Arizona Daily Star.
Gaitan-Perez said the victims, a married couple, were the only two people in the hot tub when an electrical malfunction occurred.
“We had just come up from the pool, and my husband and son were in that very same (hot tub) about an hour before,” she said.
Gaitan-Perez said she ran down to the pool area and assisted others in performing CPR. The man did not have a pulse when she arrived, and attempts to apply a defibrillator were unsuccessful, she said.
“The wife ended up becoming responsive and was breathing on her own by the time she was taken by gurney to the ambulance,” she said.
Video of the aftermath of the incident, which Gaitan-Perez said was taken by her husband, shows people gathered around a hot tub, screaming for help as someone performs CPR on a person lying on the ground.
“The Sonoran Sea needs to be held accountable and a root cause investigation needs to be made public to ensure this tragedy never happens again,” Gaitan-Perez said.
The Sonoran Sea’s homeowners association staff said Wednesday that manager Cristina Arvizu was not immediately available to comment on the incident.
The resort was completed in 2004 and has two towers with 208 condos, according to the resort’s website.
The Sonora Attorney General’s office will share more information soon, the spokesman said.
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