Families of Three Deceased Tourists Issue Release

The families of the three young women who tragically passed away in their suite at the Royal Kahal Resort in San Pedro have spoken out following the lab test results. Twenty-three-year-old Kaoutar Naqqad, twenty-four-year-old Imane Mallah, and twenty-six-year-old Wafae El Arar were found dead on February twenty-second in their resort suite. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the families shared that officials from the U.S. Embassy in Belize informed them that their loved ones died from acute carbon monoxide poisoning, likely due to a faulty instant water heater. From the beginning, the families strongly opposed the idea that their loved ones had died from a drug overdose. They are urging Belizean authorities to continue their investigation to ensure that others who may have been affected at the same hotel are informed about what happened. In their statement, the families expressed their heartbreak over the loss of these three bright lights in their world. They were relieved by the thorough and independent investigation results and are awaiting a separate review by authorities in Massachusetts. The families had always believed the deaths were suspicious and raised concerns about initial media reports. They hope the official findings will make law enforcement more cautious in future investigations. The families are calling on Belizean authorities to continue their investigative work to provide a full accounting of what happened and how the investigation was handled by officials and hotel management. During a press briefing on Wednesday, Director of the National Forensic Science Service, Gian Cho, elaborated on the findings of the toxicology report.

 

Gian Cho, Director, National Forensics Science Service

“The family has already received the toxicology results through the Embassy, and we have provided a copy of the report to them as well because the way the sample collection for toxicology works, you really only get one go at collecting samples from the autopsy. And the autopsy was conducted in Belize. So, we do have a small amount of samples retained if the family member would want to request those samples for their independent testing, which we have already communicated through the embassy. But because we have used one of the ISO accredited labs in the U.S. that a lot of the medical examiner’s offices in the US use as well, the toxicology reports that we just shared with them would conceivably be what they would’ve obtained through their U.S. Medical Examiner process.”