A powerful explosion of undetermined origin, which occurred in a shopping area in the province of San Cristobal, in the south of the Dominican Republic, left 11 dead, including a baby, 59 injured and a dozen missing, according to a new report authorities on Tuesday. The explosion rocked the shopping area of San Cristobal, capital of the province of the same name, around 3:10 p.m. (1910 GMT) on Monday. It caused a fire, topped by a gigantic column of smoke.
The Emergency Operations Center reported at least 11 dead and 59 injured. “There are 11 [corps identifiés], but there are more corpses”, explained the director of the authority, Juan Manuel Mendez. “We must determine if the bones belong to a single body or if there are several corpses”. Tuesday afternoon, the firefighters were still hard at work trying to put an end to the fire, noted an AFP journalist, Juan Manuel Mendez, specifying that “four homes” remained active.
Several vehicles burned to ashes
“I want to express my sincere condolences” to the families of the victims, Dominican President Luis Abinader said on Tuesday during a trip to the disaster area. Of the 59 injured, 37 were still hospitalized on Tuesday, according to an official report. “We do everything humanly possible […] to investigate the situation of the 11 missing people, ”he assured before the latest report from the Emergency Operations Center was released. “An investigation will be conducted to determine the origin and causes of this terrible accident,” said Luis Abinader.
The shock wave shook several buildings, including a hardware store, a veterinary clinic and a public ministry building. At this time, it has not been possible to determine where exactly the explosion occurred. Several vehicles were reduced to ashes.
“We must save the lives of those who have been affected and injured, and we will do so without any limit of resources,” President Abinader added. In hospitals near the scene of the disaster, dozens of people are rushing in search of relatives who could have been at the scene of the explosion. “We want to know what happened to our parent,” Daysi Rodriguez told reporters. “He was supposed to be here, but he doesn’t appear on the list.”