CNN —
A Texas woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against two Mexican resort travel companies, seeking more than $1 million in damages after her husband was electrocuted in a resort hot tub earlier this month.
The lawsuit claims that the “operators, managers and owners” of Sonoran Sea Resort in Sonora, Mexico, engaged in “gross negligence” that led to her injuries and the death of her husband, Jorge Guillen. Zambrano is currently recuperating at home, her lawyer said.
“I want someone to be held accountable for what happened to my husband and me,” Zambrano said in an interview on ABC's Good Morning America broadcast Friday.
According to the lawsuit, the couple was vacationing at the resort on June 11 when they decided to spend some time in the hot tub. As soon as Guillen entered the tub, he was “exposed to electrical currents in the water.”
“Jorge immediately collapsed into the bathtub and sank beneath the surface of the water,” according to the lawsuit. “Lisette immediately witnessed her husband fall and jumped from the pool deck to attempt to grab Jorge's body…”
Zambrano tried to save him but was in shock, according to the lawsuit, and she was eventually rescued by passersby and taken to the hospital.
“Guests attempted to assist, grabbing crosses and other objects to try to free Jorge's body,” the lawsuit alleges, “but the metal on those objects carried electrical current and began electrocuting rescuers.”
The lawsuit names vacation rental companies Kasago LLC, Kasago International LLC and High Desert Travel Inc. as defendants. CNN reached out to the companies for comment, but the latter two did not immediately respond.
According to the lawsuit, Guillen went into shock and was underwater for 10 minutes before Kasago staff and the other defendants “finally began to cooperate and assist in rescuing Jorge.”
“A lot of people jumped in, but they kept jumping out because the impact was so strong,” Zambrano told ABC.
“We are heartbroken by what happened and our hearts go out to the family and victims of this horrific incident,” Kasago LLC said in a statement to CNN.
“Sonoran Sea is a condominium resort and all common areas, including pools, hot tubs and grounds maintenance, are the responsibility of the homeowners association. As a vacation rental company, Casago is not involved in the management or maintenance of the resort in any way,” the statement continued. “Our involvement in this incident extends only to individual condo reservations.”
The homeowners association did not respond to CNN's request for comment.
It is not clear how or if Casago, LLC is related to Casago International LLC. According to corporate records, Casago International, LLC and High Desert Travel, Inc. have the same office address in Arizona and the same chief executive officer. According to corporate records, Casago LLC and High Desert Travel share the same phone number.
El Paso County Judge Francisco X. Dominguez on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the defendants and those working with them from remodeling the hot tubs. The judge also ordered that video evidence of the incident and any communications between the defendants' employees about the incident be preserved until at least July 2.
“The preservation of this evidence is critical to the prosecution of Mr. Zambrano's case and is an important first step in this litigation and will hopefully prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again,” said Zambrano's lawyer, Tej Paranjpe.
The lawsuit states that Guillen was “a hardworking, loving, affectionate, caring, energetic, supportive, patient and attentive father who provided guidance, advice, counseling, protection, comfort, service, care and attention to his family.”
“As a result of her husband's death, Lizette lost his affection and companionship, as well as her right to his love, comfort, comfort, company and support,” the lawsuit states.
