Death of a British executive in a spa in Marrakech: the investigation reveals an unexpected cause

The tragedy occurred on March 22, 2023. Anthony Barnes, director and co-founder of a British recruitment company, had arrived that same day in Marrakech with colleagues for a "professional celebration event". The group was staying at the Jaal Riad Resort, a five-star establishment. Around 3 p.m., Mr. Barnes went to the hotel’s spa for a massage.

According to the investigation document, about an hour later, his colleagues who had remained near the pool saw smoke coming from the roof of the spa. The establishment’s staff reported having heard "the noise of a small explosion followed by a fire outbreak".

The staff tried to extinguish the fire but were quickly "inconvenienced by the thick smoke and poor visibility", leaving Anthony Barnes trapped inside. The emergency services, who arrived around 4:20 p.m., also had difficulty entering the building. The executive’s body was removed an hour later and identified by his colleagues. He was pronounced dead on the spot.

An underlying heart condition as an aggravating factor

The investigation conducted by the Moroccan local police found "nothing [that] indicates the fire was deliberately started". The British coroner concluded that the death was accidental.

A first autopsy performed in Morocco had suggested carbon monoxide poisoning as the cause of death. However, a second autopsy carried out in the United Kingdom refined this conclusion, determining the cause as "smoke inhalation and coronary atherosclerosis".

According to the coroner’s report, the fact that Anthony Barnes suffered from an "underlying and apparently undiagnosed coronary disease may have been clinically significant in the context of smoke inhalation and oxygen depletion".

At the time, his company, The ONE Group, had issued a statement honoring the memory of a man whose "loss will be deeply felt by all who knew him".