Sandy MaloneGreat Exuma, BAHAMAS – The coroner has determined that the three American tourists who died at a Sandals resort in the Bahamas earlier this month were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning in their hotel rooms.
Two couples separately reported feeling ill at Sandals Emerald Bay Resort on Great Exuma on May 5 and each visited a local clinic for treatment.
Officials identified the deceased as 68-year-old Michael Phillips and his wife, 65-year-old Robbie Phillips, who were travel agents from Tennessee visiting the luxury resort, the Daily Mail reported.
Vincent Chiarella, originally of Birmingham, Alabama, was also found dead on the floor in the villa located next door to the room the Phillips were staying in, ABC News reported.
His wife, Donna Chiarella, was found on a bed in their villa.
She was airlifted to Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau and then transferred to Kendall Regional Medical Center in Florida, ABC News reported.
Donna Chiarella arrived in Florida in critical condition but has since been upgraded to stable.
It wasn’t know if she has been released from the hospital.
Their son, Austin Chiarella, told ABC News that he had spoken to his mother about what happened.
He said she told him that they hadn’t felt well the day before his father died, and went to a local clinic.
His mother told him that she “thought she was alright” when they got back to the room, according to ABC News.
But they got sicker overnight.
“She woke up and my dad was laying there on the floor, and she couldn’t move,” Austin Chiarella told ABC News. “Her legs and arms was swollen and she couldn’t move and she screamed to get someone to come in the door.”
The Phillips were found by hotel employees at about 9 a.m. on May 6 in a villa at the Sandals Emerald Bay resort on Great Exuma, the Daily Mail reported.
Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) officers responded to the scene from the George Town Police Station.
While they were on the way to the luxury resort, hotel employees found two more people down in another villa on the resort property, according to a press release from RBPF.
In the second villa, police found another man unconscious on the bedroom floor, according to RBPF.
The press release said a Caucasian woman was also found unresponsive on a bed in a bedroom.
The officers then went to the second villa where they found another man unconscious on the bedroom floor, according to RBPF.
The press release said a Caucasian woman was also found unresponsive on a bed in a bedroom.
Police said that both of the victims in the second villa showed signs they had suffered from convulsions before they died.
The Nassau Guardian reported on Monday that the pathologist was expected to release the findings of the autopsy and toxicology tests performed on the three people who died.
Bahamian officials had previously said there was no public health concern associated with the tourists’ deaths.
Toxicology results revealed that the Phillips and Vincent Chiarella died from carbon monoxide poisoning, The Nassau Guardian reported.
The U.S. Department of State said it has been closely monitoring the Bahamian authorities’ investigation of the deaths, CNN reported.
“We are closely monitoring local authorities’ investigation into the cause of death. We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance,” it said in a press release.
A lab in Philadelphia was assisting with the toxicology testing being conducted by Bahamian pathologists, CNN reported.
Bahamian Minister of Health Dr. Michael Darville said that family members of the victims have requested a private pathologist conduct independent autopsies of all three victims, The Nassau Guardian reported.
Holly Matkin
