A powerful explosion tore through the heart of a small town in the Dominican Republic, leaving a trail of destruction, loss, and anguish in its wake.
The blast occurred on Monday in the commercial area of San Cristobal, and has claimed the lives of eleven individuals, with ten others still unaccounted for and dozens more suffering injuries, according to President Luis Abinader’s announcement on Tuesday.
The explosion rocked the tranquil town, located just under 30 kilometers away from the capital Santo Domingo
It unleashed chaos as a fire erupted from the epicenter, casting a towering plume of smoke into the sky that lingered for hours.
Emergency officials worked tirelessly to contain the blaze, while simultaneously attempting to assess the extent of the damage and locate survivors amidst the rubble.
Mendez Gives Update on the Incident
The true magnitude of the disaster became even more apparent when Juan Manuel Mendez, a top emergencies official, updated the death toll on Tuesday evening.
“There are 11 identified bodies, but there are more corpses,” Mendez lamented, highlighting the grim reality that this catastrophe had left an indelible mark on the community.
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Out of the 59 individuals who sustained injuries, 37 remained hospitalized, according to reports from emergency personnel on the scene.
The tragedy cast a cloud over the region as the full extent of the injuries became apparent.
Among the victims, heartbreakingly, was a four-month-old infant, a reminder of the indiscriminate nature of the disaster.
President Abinader Offers Condolences
President Abinader paid a visit to the site of the explosion, offering his condolences to the grieving families and pledging the full resources of the government to aid in the search and recovery efforts.
“We are doing all that is humanly possible to look for the missing people,” Abinader stated.
The incident has since dealt a severe blow to local businesses, including a hardware store, a veterinary clinic, and a plastics factory, all of which suffered extensive damage.
Concerned Citizens Show Support
The community rallied together, with photographs of the missing individuals circulating on social media platforms.
Meanwhile, a multitude of concerned citizens flocked to nearby hospitals, hoping to reunite with their loved ones.
A contingent of around 500 firefighters and rescue personnel, along with specially trained search dogs, scoured the debris in a race against time to find any remaining survivors.
Eyewitnesses recounted their experiences of the fateful moment.
“The windows of the house shook strongly, and I thought there had been an earthquake,” one witness recounted.
Local media in the Dominican Republic also reported that some of the wounded had suffered burns covering up to 40 percent of their bodies, highlighting the severity of the injuries sustained.
