There is no suspicion of a dishonest death game on Friday, said acting Bahamian Prime Minister Chester Cooper.
Forensic scientists have collected samples from the deceased, and a laboratory in Philadelphia is helping with toxicological tests, said on Monday the Royal Bahamas Police Commissioner Paul Roll. Scientists have also collected samples from the rooms where the bodies were found to check for contaminants, he said.
Authorities declined to say whether contaminants have been found in the samples so far. Pathologists will provide an official report once the tests are complete, Roll said.
Michael Phillips, 68, and his wife Robbie Phillips, 65, of Tennessee, were pronounced dead at the resort on Friday, as was Vincent Paul Chiarella, 64, of Florida, who was found unanswered in a separate room, police said.
A fourth American – Chiarella’s wife, Donis Chiarella, 65 – was airlifted to a hospital in the Bahamas capital before being transferred to Kendall Hospital in Miami, where her condition improved to normal on Monday. spokesman for the Hospital Corporation of America’s East Florida Division.
The three deaths in the Sandals Emerald Bay resort of Great Exuma have been confirmed by Sandals spokeswoman Stacy Royal and the US State Department.
“We are closely following the local authorities’ investigation into the cause of death. We are ready to provide all necessary consular assistance,” the State Department said in a statement. “Out of respect for the privacy of families, we have nothing more to add at the moment.
Guests found unresponsive in the resort villas
Resort officials told police shortly after 9am on Friday that an unresponsive man had been found in a villa, police said. On the way to the scene, police said another man and woman were found unanswered in another villa, the statement said.
Police found in the first villa a “Caucasian man lying on the ground unresponsive” with no signs of injury. A doctor has determined his death, police said. The woman who was hospitalized was found with him, Roll said on Saturday.
In the second villa, they found a second man, “falling to the wall in the bathroom without reacting”, and the woman was “found in a bedroom on a bed”, the statement said.
“Both showed signs of convulsions,” the statement said. None of them showed signs of trauma. They were also pronounced dead by a doctor.
The man and woman in the second villa “complained of illness the night before” and received treatment at a local medical facility before returning to their room, police said.
Cooper on Friday asked the National Minister for Health and Wellness to lead a delegation of health, environment and public works officials in the Exuma region.
“Nothing is more important to Sandals Resorts than the safety of our guests,” the resort said in a statement, adding that it was working actively to “support both the investigation and the families of the guests in every way possible.”
The sandals cannot reveal additional information “out of respect for the privacy of our guests”, it says.
CNN’s Carlos Suarez, Hira Humayun, Jason Hanna, Rebecca Rhys, Sarah Jorgensen, Susanna Cullinan and Elliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report.
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