Wife sues for $1,000,000 after husband died by electrocution in hotel hot tub
The wife of a man who died after being electrocuted in a hot tub at a hotel in Mexico has filed a $1,000,000 lawsuit.
Lizzette Zambrano, 35, is suing Sonoran Sea Resort in Puerto Penasco, where she and her husband Jorge Guillen, 43, were staying.
The couple arrived at the hotel last Tuesday and planned to go and watch the sunset together from the hot tub.
However, the moment Jorge put his foot in, he was electrocuted and fell into an electric circuit and quickly became trapped under water.
Lizzette jumped in to save him, but was jolted by the current and sucked in as well.
Another guest managed to save her but efforts to rescue Jorge failed when other people were electrocuted with poles and metal tools they used.
A lawsuit has now been filed in the couple’s home city of El Paso, Texas, for wrongful death and negligence.
It claims that resort staff took 10 minutes to respond and the hotel failed to warn guests about the hazards.
Tej Paranjpe, an attorney at the Houston-based firm PMR law, which is dealing with the case, described the incident as ‘terrifying’.
He added: ‘There was not a single staff member that did anything while Jorge was getting continuously shocked again and again underwater.’
The lawsuit says that finally, after 10 minutes, workers at the resort responded to guests’ cries for help.
The manager then retrieved Jorge’s body from the bottom of the jacuzzi, but by then he had died.
Lizzette was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, and was discharged on Friday.
Mexican prosecutors in Sonora state reported that investigators were looking into ‘the origin of the electrical failure’ and would conduct field visits in the coming days.
Hot tub electrocution due to faulty underwater lighting and flawed pumps remains rare, but experts warn that vigilance is needed to ensure equipment is properly maintained.
The Metro has contacted the resort for comment.
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