Lizzette Zambrano has filed a lawsuit against a Mexican resort after he husband Jorge Guillen was electrocuted and killed in a hot tub (Picture: @bcsk_sanjeev/GoFundMe)
The wife of a man who died after being electrocuted in a hot tub at a resort in Mexico has filed a $1,000,000 lawsuit.
Lizzette Zambrano, 35, is suing the parent companies of Sonoran Sea Resort in Puerto Penasco, where she and her husband Jorge Guillen, 43, were staying.
Mr Guillen died and Ms Zambrano was seriously hurt on Tuesday last week after they were shocked by an ‘electric discharge’ in the water of an outdoor hot tub at the resort.
The couple, from El Paso, Texas in the US, where the lawsuit was filed, had been on holiday with family when the tragedy happened.
The lawsuit, for wrongful death and negligence, claims it took resort staff ten minutes to respond, by which time it was too late to save Mr Guillen.
It also asserts the hotel, which lies around an hour south of the US border, failed to prevent and warn guests about the hazards of the hot tub.
The couple and several other family members had arrived at the Sonoran Sea Resort, a complex of high-rise flats, on Tuesday, the law suit states and headed to the jacuzzi to watch the sun set over the sea.
The couple on their wedding day (Picture: Family Handout)
They didn’t know an electric current was rippling through the hot tub water and when Guillen dipped his foot into the jacuzzi, the current zapped him.
He tumbled into a direct electric circuit and quickly became trapped underwater.
Ms Zambrano jumped in to rescue her drowning husband and was jolted by the current and sucked in, too, according to the lawsuit.
Footage from shortly after shows screaming guests race over to try and help them.
While a guest managed to drag Ms Zambrano out of the water, efforts to retrieve Mr Guillen with poles and various metal tools only caused more people to be shocked by the electric current, the lawsuit says.
Frantic guests around the hot tub after the couple were electrocuted (Picture: @bcsk_sanjeev)
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 ten minutes, workers at the resort responded to guests’ cries for help.
The manager then retrieved Mr Guillen from the bottom of the jacuzzi, but by then he had died.
The pair were on holiday with family when the tragedy happened (Picture: GoFundMe)
Ms Zambrano was discharged from hospital on Friday (Picture: Facebook)
Ms Zambrano 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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