A serious fire has hit the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach, a seaside resort in the Bayahibe area of the Dominican Republic. Flames engulfed much of the structure, with videos released by local media showing thick clouds of dark smoke rising above the Caribbean coast.
The local authorities, through the DAEH emergency service, confirmed that the fire unfortunately caused one victim, a 46-year-old Italian citizen, while almost 1,700 tourists were evacuated. Three people were taken to health facilities and another six were assisted on site: among those involved there were guests, visitors and rescuers.
The causes of the accident have not yet been clarified: however, the authorities reported that the flames spread rapidly due to the flammable nature of some parts of the structure.
What do we know about the possible dynamics
As mentioned, according to preliminary observations from the Emergency Operations Center (COE), the fire spread rapidly due to the flammable nature of some parts of the roof coverings, made of palm, with the flames spreading easily also thanks to the wind conditions.
This detail would also explain the images circulated on social media, which show how the flames devoured the vegetal roof of the resort, while the smoke spread towards the beach. In the past few hours, the fire was put out by the firefighters.
In the meantime, approximately 1,690 guests were transferred to other hotels in the area, while the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace, a property of the same chain, reported no damage.
However, local authorities have made it known that tourist activities in Bayahibe and the surrounding area continue regularly and safely, an important point for a country which is the first tourist destination in the Caribbean and which in the first five months of the year alone welcomed approximately 5.6 million visitors.
The information released by the Farnesina for Italians on the island
The fire, unfortunately, caused one victim, a 46-year-old Italian citizen, as confirmed by the Farnesina. The reconstruction provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs adds some details on the dynamics of the tragedy: the woman would have been struck by a respiratory crisis while she was on the beach, where she had rushed together with the other tourists to leave the hotel rooms. There she apparently lost consciousness by inhaling carbon monoxide after being hit by a wave of smoke coming from the burning site, and was then transported to hospital in a private car.
In the meantime, the Dominican government sent the head of civil protection and two ministers to the disaster site, and operational meetings were held with the Italian embassy and the resort managers to ensure assistance during the emergency.
There would be around 280 compatriots in the resort: according to what was reported by ANSA, around 130 Italian tourists who were guests of the facility would have already returned to Italy with a Neos flight directed to Verona, with a stopover in Rome Fiumicino. A second flight is scheduled for today with another 80 citizens.
