Three US tourists found dead at a Sandals resort in the Bahamas last month were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, police have said.

Tennessee couple Robbie Phillips, 65, and Michael Phillips, 68, and 64-year-old Vincent Chiarella from Florida, were found unresponsive at the Sandals Emerald Bay resort on 6 May.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said the tourists had died as a result of asphyxiation due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

The force added that an investigation into the deaths was still ongoing.

The three Americans were found dead at the Sandals Emerald Bay Resort in Great Exuma on 6 May.

Mr Chiarella’s wife, Donnis, 65, was airlifted to a hospital in Florida in serious condition and ultimately survived.

An initial investigation had found that one of the couples had complained of illness the night before they were found, police said.

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The couple were said to have received treatment at a medical facility before returning to the villa.

It was not clear if the villas had been equipped with carbon monoxide detectors or if they had, whether they were working.

“We can officially confirm that all three of the victims died as a result of asphyxiation due to carbon monoxide poisoning,” the police said in a statement. “This matter remains under active investigation.”

Meanwhile, Sandals Resorts said: “We have fully supported the investigation into this event to ensure we are doing everything possible to learn from it.

“Bahamian authorities have concluded the cause was an isolated incident in one standalone structure that housed two individual guest rooms,” they said.

But a spokesperson for Sandals did not directly respond to a question on whether the villas had been equipped with carbon monoxide detectors at the time.

The spokesperson repeated past comments from the company saying carbon monoxide detectors have since been placed in all guest rooms at Sandals Emerald Bay and will be installed in all guest rooms across the company’s portfolio.

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