2 Americans found dead at hotel in Mexico’s Baja California Sur

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) — Police in a seaside community on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula said Wednesday that two Americans have been found dead in their hotel room.

Police said the deaths occurred in the community of El Pescadero on Tuesday. The town is located between Todos Santos and the resort of Los Cabos, in Baja California Sur state.

U.S. officials said they were aware of the case but could not comment on it because of privacy concerns. There was no immediate information on the names or hometowns of the victims.

According to police, paramedics received a report Tuesday that the Americans were unconscious in their room. They were dead by the time paramedics arrived. The suspected cause of death was inhalation of gas.

There have been several cases of such deaths in Mexico due to poisoning by carbon monoxide or other gases. Such gases are often produced by improperly vented or leaky water heaters and stoves.

In October, three U.S. citizens found dead at a rented apartment in Mexico, apparently victims of gas inhalation.

The Mexico City police department said the three were found unresponsive Oct. 30 in an upscale neighborhood. They had apparently rented the dwelling for a short visit. Post-mortem examinations suggested the two men and one woman died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

In Mexico, proper gas line installations, vents and monitoring devices are often lacking.

In 2018, a gas leak in a water heater caused the deaths of an American couple and their two children in the resort town of Tulum, south of Playa del Carmen.

An inspection revealed that the water heater at the rented condominium was leaking gas. Prosecutors said the gas leak was perhaps caused by a lack of maintenance or the age of the equipment.

In 2010, the explosion of an improperly installed gas line at a hotel in Playa del Carmen killed five Canadian tourists and two Mexicans.

In that case, prosecutors said the gas line, apparently meant to fuel a pool heating unit, was not properly installed or maintained. They said gas leaking from the line may have been ignited in an explosion by a spark from an electric switch or plug.

In a separate case in the Caribbean coast resort of Playa del Carmen, prosecutors announced Wednesday that a judge ordered three men to stand trial on homicide charges in the May 30 killing of an Italian woman at a restaurant.

The woman was a longtime resident of Playa del Carmen, and was not a tourist. Prosecutors did not provide information on a possible motive in that case.