Sunday 8 May 2022 03:56 AM Faulty air conditioner may have killed three Americans at luxury Bahamas resort ... trends now
A guest at the luxury Bahamas resort where three Americans were discovered dead and one hospitalized Friday morning says a faulty air conditioner leaking toxic coolant may have been to blame for the tragedy.
'Three of our neighbors in the building right next to us died and a fourth was airlifted in critical condition early yesterday,' a post to Facebook by Chris Coucheron-Aamot, who is currently vacationing at the Sandals Emerald Bay resort in Exuma, reads.
The post, which seemed to be penned by Coucheron-Aamot's partner, describes a crime scene at the resort's luxury beachside villas where the bodies of the guests - all confirmed to be American - were discovered by hotel personnel in at least two separate villas.
One of the dead has been identified as Vincent Chiarella of Birmingham, Alabama, whose wife Donnis - both in their mid 60s - was hospitalized. She, along with the two unidentified victims, reported feeling ill the night before the bodies were discovered.
'There was crime scene tape and security guards all around our unit,' the post from Coucheron-Aamot, who was staying in the same villas as the stricken guests, reads.
Two men and a woman have died at the luxury Sandals resort in Exuma, in the Bahamas (pictured). Another woman, a wife of one of the deceased, was stricken with an illness and has since been airlifted to a hospital in Florida
A guest staying at the luxury Bahamas resort said Friday that a faulty air conditioner leaking toxic coolant may have been to blame for the tragedy
The post from New Mexico man Chris Coucheron-Aamot (pictured), who was staying in the same complex of villas at the ritzy resort, came as it was revealed that at least three of the stricken guests - who stayed in separate villas - complained of illness to hotel staff the night before their bodies were discovered
In the post, Coucheron-Aamot - who said he was continuing his vacation at the resort despite the deaths - suggested that there may have been issues with some of the villas' air-condition systems that may have led to the deaths.
'It sounds like it may have been a fault with the a/c in the unit, causing a toxic coolant leak,' the post reads.
'It was hard to sleep last night - every time the a/c came on, I woke up.
'We’re continuing our vacation because that’s what I would want people to do if I were to have been one who died - celebrate my life by living yours to the fullest. That said, our hearts are with those who grieve. May God have mercy on them and us.'
Photos posted to Coucheron-Aamot's chronicle his and another man presumed to be his partner's stay at one of the ritzy resort's villas, which ask guests pay nightly rates of up to $1227.
DailyMail.com reached out to Coucheron-Aamot Friday evening regarding the claims regarding the supposed fault a/c unit, but did not immediately hear back.
Most air conditioners use a chemical called Freon as a coolant, a moderately toxic gas that is tasteless and mostly odorless, and that can prove deadly if inhaled over a prolonged period of time.
Coucheron-Aamot's claims come as police continue to investigate the deaths of the three American guests - two of whom complained of illness to hotel staff the previous evening.
An investigation by police discerned that those two guests, a couple staying at the same villa, suffered convulsions before their death.
'Our initial investigations revealed that the couple found in the second villa complained of illness the previous evening,' a statement released by New Providence police said.
'They attended the local medical facility and on completion of receiving treatment, they returned to their lodging.'
Hotel staff came across the first body, Chiarella, shortly after 9 am Friday in a villa separate from that of
