Police are investigating the deaths of three American tourists at a Sandals resort on the Bahamas’ Great Exuma island.
“I have been regretfully informed today of the death of three American visitors, two men and a woman, at a resort property on Exuma,” Bahamian acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper said in a statement Friday.
Cooper said that while the cause of death was still unknown, “foul play was not suspected.” He added that a fourth American woman had been airlifted to a Nassau hospital.
On Friday morning, police responded to a call from hotel staff reporting an unresponsive male guest in one of the villas. While en route to the scene, authorities were informed that another man and a woman were also found unresponsive in a different villa, according to a press release from the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
On arriving at the scene, police found a “caucasian male lying on the ground unresponsive” in the bedroom of the first villa. A doctor later pronounced the victim dead. In the second villa, authorities said they found an unresponsive “caucasian male slumped against a wall in a bathroom.” They also found an unresponsive “caucasian female” on the bed in the villa, police said. None of the three victims had signs of trauma, according to authorities.
The couple in the second villa had complained of illness the previous evening and were treated at a local medical facility before returning to the villa, the police press release said.
Local police told BuzzFeed News that as of Saturday afternoon, they had not determined the cause of death and could not provide further details.
In a statement to BuzzFeed News, Sandals confirmed that three guests at their Emerald Bay property had died.
“A health emergency was initially reported and following our protocols we immediately alerted emergency medical professionals and relevant local authorities,” the statement said. “We are actively working to support both the investigation as well as the guests’ families in every way possible during this difficult time.” The resort declined to provide further details, citing the privacy of guests.
Health Minister Dr Michael Darville, who led delegation to investigate the deaths of 3 Americans at Sandals on Friday and an American woman airlifted to NP for medical treatment, says the incident appears to be limited to the four guests in a “particular area”. (1/3)
Bahamian Health Minister Michael Darville told a local news station that "some individuals" from the hotel had visited a hospital due to vomiting and nausea earlier in the day.
A front desk representative of the Exuma Sandals location, who declined to be named, told BuzzFeed News that local police were on site “looking into the situation,” but otherwise, everything at the resort seemed “to be in good order.”