Families of 3 American women who died in Belize resort from CO poisoning file suit

“The women — Wafae El-Arar, 26, Kaoutar, Naqqad, 23, and Imane Mallah, 24 — died from carbon monoxide poisoning while they were staying at the Royal Kahal Beach Resort last February…

The deaths were the direct result of ‘a catastrophic failure of safety systems,’ including failure to install the water heater properly, failure to investigate previous reports of other guests who reported symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure, and failure to provide functional carbon monoxide detectors in the guest suites, the women’s families allege in the lawsuit.

According to the suit, the women booked their trip to Belize in early 2025 to celebrate one of the women’s birthdays. At the time of booking, the women were unaware of the dysfunctional heaters at the resort, it says.

When the women turned the shower on after a beach day on Feb. 20, the suit alleges, it activated a hot water heater that ‘began venting high concentrations of carbon monoxide directly into the suite.'”

Families of 3 American women who died in Belize resort from carbon monoxide poisoning file suit