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The families of three Massachusetts women who died of carbon monoxide poisoning last year while staying at a hotel in Belize have filed a wrongful death lawsuit, naming the resort and Expedia, the travel site, as defendants.
Wafae El-Arar, 26, Kaoutar Naqqad, 23, and Imane Mallah, 24, were all found dead on Feb. 22, 2025 at the Royal Kahal Beach Resort in San Pedro.
All three women had all had fatal exposure to carbon monoxide,” authorities said at the time.
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Authorities previously identified the women as Kaoutar Naqqad, 23, Imane Mallah, 24, and Wafae El-Arar, 26, after they were found dead on Feb. 22 at the Royal Kahal Beach Resort in San Pedro. The families of the women are suing the resort and Expedia, the travel website used to book their vacation.
Belize Police Commissioner Chester Williams suggested that a malfunctioning gas-powered water heater could have been responsible. Boston.com reported.
“We are still trying to process the unimaginable,” the families said in a statement. “Our daughters and sisters left for vacation and never came home. The disbelief has not faded, and neither has the pain.”
In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Boston, the families allege that Royal Kahal failed to investigate warnings from previous hotel guests who reported carbon monoxide exposure, and that the suite where the women stayed lacked a functional carbon monoxide detector, according to the news outlet.
“This was not an unavoidable accident,” said Thomas Scolaro, an attorney for the women’s families. “It was the foreseeable result of decisions that put safety last and a bottom line first, and our legal system exists to hold those responsible to account.”
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Aerial photo of San Pedro, Belize, which borders the Caribbean Sea. (Getty Images / iStock)
The women used Expedia to plan their vacation to Belize in early 2025. After viewing an Expedia page for Royal Kahal, the travel website sent them “retargeting ads and solicitations” encouraging them to book their trip, the lawsuit states.
Meanwhile, other guests had reported high carbon monoxide levels and symptoms consistent with exposure, the news outlet reported. Some went so far as to detail their experiences through Expedia reviews, the lawsuit states.
The complaint further alleges that the Navien water heaters were not only defectively designed but improperly installed as hotel construction was “completed on a shoe-string budget by unqualified handymen.”
“We trusted that the places and companies inviting families to stay with them cared about safety as much as they cared about profit,” they said. “We now know that trust was misplaced. We are here because accountability matters, because it can prevent future tragedies, and because our daughters’ lives mattered.”
Belize is located in Central America (Google Maps)
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The families are seeking $100 million in damages.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the resort and Expedia, as well as Scolaro.