Comment Three Americans vacationing in Mexico City were found dead in a property they had rented on Airbnb, according to the US State Department and the property rental platform. Two men and a woman died of carbon monoxide poisoning at the property, Mexican police said, according to the Associated Press. They were found unresponsive on October 30 in an apartment in the upmarket Cuajimalpa district, according to Spanish newspaper El País. The State Department did not release details about the deceased or his cause of death, although it said US officials provided appropriate consular assistance. Mexico City prosecutors did not respond to a request for comment sent late Wednesday. The families of the deceased could not immediately be reached for comment. In a statement, Airbnb described the incident as a tragedy. The company said it has suspended bookings at the property where the deaths occurred. “Our priority right now is to support those affected as the authorities investigate what happened and we stand ready to assist with their inquiries,” he added. The trio went to Mexico to participate in the Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos festivities. The celebration – which ran from October 31 to November 2 – has its roots in the ancient traditions of the native Aztecs and honors death as an essential element of life. The woman involved had told her boyfriend before her death that she felt as if she had been drugged, according to El País, which saw messages between the pair. “Like I’m high, but I’m not,” he reportedly wrote. She also reportedly vomited and said she felt tired. Drug tourism demand brings cartel violence to Mexico’s most popular resorts Around the time the three U.S. citizens died, three siblings of Americans vacationing in Mexico also suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, according to a GoFundMe page set up by a family friend and local media reports. One of them died. The other two were hospitalized. Carbon monoxide is an odorless and colorless gas that kills people by slowly depriving them of oxygen. When people inhale the gas, it prevents red blood cells from carrying enough oxygen to critical organs such as the brain and heart. Initial symptoms may include dizziness and vomiting. More than 430 people are accidentally killed by the gas each year in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC advises Americans to install a carbon monoxide detector in their homes and check the batteries every six months. The gas can be found in fumes produced by furnaces, stoves, lanterns and gas ranges, or in areas near burning charcoal and wood. Infants, the elderly and people with chronic heart disease, anemia or respiratory problems are at greater risk, according to the public health agency. Robyn Huang and Bryan Pietsch contributed to this report.
