Wife of spa fire victim sues hotel for more than £500k

A woman whose husband died in a fire in a spa at a Moroccan hotel is suing the company that runs the site for more than £500,000.

Anthony Barnes, from Peterborough, died in March 2023 while staying at the five-star Jaal Ryad Resort Hotel in Marrakech.

His widow, Rachel Barnes, is suing Hotel Des Idrissides, which trades as the Jaal Ryad, for more than £500,000 in damages, claiming the fire was "caused by the negligence" of the company, High Court documents show.

The company has defended the claim and denied the 48-year-old's death was "caused by any negligence or breach of duty" on its part. A hearing in the claim is yet to take place.

Barnes had been on a business trip with colleagues and a member of hotel staff also died in the fire.

Matthew Chapman KC, representing Rachel Barnes, said in court documents Barnes was receiving a massage treatment when hotel employees became aware of the fire.

He said an inquest in the UK in October last year concluded his death was accidental after the spa became "filled with thick, acrid smoke which affected visibility and hindered attempts to rescue him".

Chapman said the company was liable to the wife for the "negligent mismanagement of the hotel and its spa facilities", as it had exposed Barnes to "a foreseeable risk of harm and death".

He said they had failed to install or maintain fire and smoke alarm and evacuation lighting systems in the spa, to tell Mr Barnes about the fire, to ensure CCTV cameras were working, or to "promptly" alert emergency services.

The barrister also claimed the spa was built from materials that were "not appropriately fire resistant/retardant", and that there was an insufficient number of fire extinguishers, among other failings.

"Accidents of this kind do not usually occur when spa facilities are properly designed, constructed, installed, maintained and operated," said Chapman.

Alistair Mackenzie, for Hotel Des Idrissides, said the fire began in the spa's sauna and that hotel employees raised the alarm and tried to fight it while attempting to evacuate guests.

He said that the building "complied with the applicable regulations in Morocco for a facility of its kind".

Mackenzie said: "It is denied that the fire or the deceased's death were caused by the negligence or breach of duty of the defendant, its employees or agents."

He said that while smoke alarms were not fitted in the room Anthhony was in due to humidity levels, they were fitted in "adjacent areas", which was not "unreasonable or negligent", and that the hotel had a "suitable" alarm system.

He also said that emergency lighting was fitted, that the materials used were "suitable and widely used in the construction of such facilities", that CCTV cameras operated in access routes to the room Anthony was in, and there were "multiple working fire extinguishers".

The barrister said that the documents setting out the claim failed "to plead any case as to the manner in which any of the alleged acts or omissions… caused the deceased's death".

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