Iranian views from the street: Trump playing 'childish dare game' - Aljazeera.com

Tehran, Iran – "If we go to war, it will push us back a hundred years. Do I like going to war? No, but I'll go if I have to," Amirhossein Eliasi, who runs a fruit shop in central Tehran, told Al Jazeera.

This fatalistic sentiment seems to carry the day among many Iranians in the capital on Friday, a day after a military escalation that, according to US President Donald Trump, brought the two nations to the edge of open conflict.

Indeed, a quick loss of temper by Trump or a simple miscalculation by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) could drag the country's population of 80 million into a devastating war with the United States, many Iranians fear.

But despite the looming threat, many seem to stoically go about their daily lives, too busy to make ends meet amid crippling US sanction, put in place by Trump after he unilaterally exited his country out of the 2015 nuclear deal last year in May.

Trump said on Friday that he cancelled, at the last minute, a military strike on Iran, which he said he ordered in retaliation against the shooting down of a US surveillance drone. The IRGC says it shot down the US Global Hawk drone with a surface-to-air missile on Thursday, after giving out several warnings for it to leave Iran's airspace. Washington says the drone was hit while flying over international waters.

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The US president said he aborted the planned attack on three sites, which US military advisers estimated could kill 150 Iranians. Trump said he stopped the attack because it would not be a proportionate response to the destruction of the drone.

"They had sent a plane to gather information on our country," Eliasi, the fruit seller, told Al Jazeera. "The IRGC did the right thing to shoot it down," he added. 

"My job is to run a shop and I'm not an educated person. But what I see is that Trump is a crazy person. I swear to God he is crazy. He needs to be confronted," the 50-year-old told Al Jazeera on Friday.

Since the start of Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign, much has changed for Iran's middle class; costs of doing business and living expenses have skyrocketed. The sanctions, including those aiming to bring Iran's vital oil exports to zero, have led to a nearly 60 percent drop in the value of Iran's currency, the rial.

The economic crisis has taken its toll on Eliasi's business, too. Now, he says, his earnings cover the costs of his shop alone and he hardly makes enough money to take care of his family, including his 10-year-old daughter, Bahar, present at the shop to help her father.

"If they come and give us a couple of slaps in the face, am I supposed to just stand there and watch?" Eliasi asks rhetorically.

"The government should either make concessions or stand and fight. I would be the first person to fight in a war. And I know that America can't do anything. They have more to lose than me and you."

'America's fault'

Reza recently finished his military service in his hometown in northeastern Iran and now started working in the capital to build a life.

"If there is war, I won't be happy but maybe it is better that way. The country is already a mess," the 20-year-old shopkeeper told Al Jazeera.

Others are less pessimistic.

"I don't think there will be a war," Pooria, a software engineer told Al Jazeera. "But maybe that's just wishful thinking," she quickly added.

"I was horrified this morning when I saw the news. I never thought the threat was so close. But after I read the news, I realised … a careless incident like hitting a ship or shooting a plane could easily mess things up. And the level of foolishness on both sides is high. It's like a childish dare game."

The 35-year-old resident of eastern Tehran blames the current situation on Washington's moves in the past months.

"If a war starts, it is America's fault. It is America's fault a hundred percent," she said.

"The US left the nuclear deal. They shouldn't have left the deal. If Iran has other interests in the region, you need to sit and talk about those but you should not leave an existing deal. This led to mistrust. Because of this move, hardliners here can argue that the US cannot be trusted. And this could shut the door to any new negotiations."

Maximum pressure policy

The Trump administration says its "maximum pressure" policy aims to force Iran to negotiate a new nuclear deal that should also address Iran's ballistic missile programme, as well as regional military activities.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed Iran has abided by the nuclear deal, but Tehran has threatened to breach its commitments, if the EU and other parties fail to help Iran benefit economically from the accord.

Iran has said it will not negotiate under pressure.

Aram, a 27-year-old art graduate, said despite carelessness on both sides, she was positive that talks could be in progress through back channels.

"A war is not in the regime's best interest," she told Al Jazeera. "I'm against war or a revolution. I want reforms. I want good changes to happen [through a peaceful process], even though this seems far-fetched."

The psychological burden of Iran's escalated tensions with the US, has been pushing many young people to leave the country, applying for universities abroad or using other means to emigrate.

The effect of the standoff has been felt even by Bahar, Eliasi's 10-year-old daughter.

"This is what it is and we can't fix it," she told Al Jazeera, standing next to her father.

"It is America's, Trump's and Iran's fault. If they never fought and they lived in peace, these things wouldn't have happened. And people wouldn't have to flee their own country."

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/iranian-views-street-trump-playing-childish-game-190622100239743.html

2019-06-22 12:57:00Z
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Dominican tourism official vows 'disciplinary action' if U.S. tourist death probe finds negligence - Fox News

The Dominican Republic's tourism minister said on Friday that if the investigation into the rash of deaths of U.S. tourists finds wrongdoing or negligence, those responsible will face "disciplinary measures to fit their actions."

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia expressed confidence that the deaths were all rooted in natural causes and insisted that it is safe to vacation there.

"We wish these things didn't happen," he said. "But unfortunately, they do. ... That's why we're interested in knowing what happened to them."

Garcia stressed that autopsy reports that were done following the deaths of most of the tourists showed that there was nothing nefarious, and acknowledged the toxicological tests the FBI is conducting in its research center in Quantico, Va., in the deaths of three Americans who died in their rooms at Bahia Principe resorts.

"If there's something that went wrong, we will take the disciplinary measures that are warranted," Garcia said. "We will make whatever decision we must make if there's been negligence of any kind. We will act."

The FBI told Fox News on Friday that it has sent a team to the Dominican Republic to investigate the deaths.

Earlier in the day, Garcia held a press conference to make the case that the popular Caribbean vacation spot is safe and that it did not deserve the negative attention triggered by worldwide headlines about the rash of U.S. tourist deaths. The Dominican Republic has signed a $35,000 monthly contract with the New York-based Rubenstein public relations powerhouse to fight the negative publicity.

As Dominican officials tried to quell rising concerns among would-be travelers worldwide about safety there, the State Department on Friday confirmed to Fox News the June 17 death of a New York business owner, Vittorio Caruso, 56, who died after becoming critically ill at the Boca Chica Resort in Santo Domingo.

Vittorio Caruso, 56, of Glen Cove, N.Y. (Courtesy of Lisa Caruso)

Caruso's death is the third in a seven-day span in June, and he's the 11th American tourist to die in the Dominican Republic since last year. The case of another tourist, a woman from Pennsylvania who died in 2016 under similar circumstances, was made public by her family this past week after they read about the others and detected common threads.

The two other U.S. tourists who died this month are Leyla Cox, a 53-year-old hospital MRI technician from New York who was found dead in her hotel room on June 10, and Joseph Allen, 55, from New Jersey, who died in his room on June 13.

Caruso's sister-in-law, Lisa Maria Caruso, told Fox News that Vittorio was in good health and had owned and operated a pizzeria in New York with his brother until a month ago. She said that he'd traveled alone to the Dominican Republic.

DAUGHTER OF ARMY VET WHO DIED AT DOMINICAN RESORT: FUNERAL HOME 'PRESSURED' ME TO MAKE A DECISION ABOUT MY FATHER'S REMAINS

"We found out he was brought by ambulance to the hospital in respiratory distress after drinking something," Caruso said. "We were told he wasn't responding to any meds he was given and died. I honestly don't know exactly what happened, as we have been told conflicting stories from different people there."

"It is very hard to get a straight story from anyone there," she said, adding that relatives are awaiting the autopsy report. "They even wanted to cremate the body. We insisted on having the body sent back here."

"This was a complete shock to us, as Vittorio was not a sick person," Caruso said. "He was expected to return home on June 27."

Chris Palmer with granddaughter Ruby (Courtesy of Bernadette Hiller)

On Thursday, Garcia told Fox News that the Tourism Ministry has tested the alcohol, food, water, kitchens and other areas of the resorts where U.S. tourists have died. He said the results of those tests could be known as soon as Monday.

From the outset, Dominican officials have denounced the characterization of the deaths as mysterious or in some way linked.

"There are no mysterious deaths here," Garcia said in the Friday interview with Fox News."'Mysterious' implies that things happened that science cannot explain."

Garcia struck a sympathetic tone when asked what he would tell the deceased tourists' relatives, who have uniformly told stories of being given the run-around by resort workers and government officials as they've tried to learn more about what happened.

JUAN WILLIAMS: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HASN'T 'BEEN TRANSPARENT OR CLEAR' AMID RESORT DEATHS

Like Caruso, the relatives have said that the tourists, who range in age from 41 to 78, were in relatively good health and showed no signs of illness prior to traveling to the Dominican Republic. The deaths have been described as happening following a sudden and rapidly worsening onset of symptoms.

Several tourists died shortly after consuming a minibar drink.

"To the people who have lost loved ones here, we want to say that when we learned about each one, it's been the worst news we have received," Garcia said. "When those people come to the Dominican Republic, just like when someone goes on vacation, you go happy, your family expects to see you again. When this happens, there's pain and a sense of tragedy. The pain and the tragedy, we feel it [too]."

But Garcia took pains to emphasize that the Dominican Republic is one of the safest vacation spots in the world.

Will Cox and his mother, Leyla Cox (Courtesy of Will Cox)

“We’ve become the favorite destination for Americans first because of how we treat them," he said, "second, because of the natural resources God blessed the Dominican Republic with, and third, because of the excellent hotels and resorts, of which are of a standard above that of facilities in other countries.”

Attorneys and relatives of the U.S. tourists assailed efforts by Dominican officials to depict the deaths as an unfortunate twist of fate and promote the country as a desirable vacation spot. Some are moving to have independent autopsies and toxicological tests done in the United States.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC OFFICIALS DOWNPLAY SPATE OF AMERICAN TOURIST DEATHS IN CARIBBEAN NATION

Steve Bullock, an attorney representing the families of Edward Holmes, 63, and his fiance Cynthia Day, 47, who both were found dead in their room on May 30 at the five-star Grand Bahia Principe La Romana resort, said: "That kind of reckless statement is repulsive and repugnant. We will let the facts and medical reports tell the story."

Holmes and Day will be buried next week, Bullock said.

In an interview with Fox News host Harris Faulkner, Meghan Arnold --whose father Chris Palmer, an Army veteran, was found dead in his resort room on April 18, 2018--said that she is shocked that Dominican officials appear to resist seeing the rash of deaths of otherwise healthy people as mysterious.

"Honestly I have no words," she said when Faulkner asked for her reaction to the tourism minister's press conference. "I don't understand how somebody can see --what is this, 11 deaths now? They all have somewhat of the same [offical cause of death], they're all in the same area. He's claiming that 'You know, this can happen anywhere,' and I completely agree. Heart attacks can happen anywhere. Bad things can happen anywhere. But where else are we seeing eleven cases of almost the same thing in the same area as we're seeing in the Dominican Republic?"

"I'm just fighting to find answers," Arnold said. "I feel for all of these other families because I know how hard this process is and I just feel that we all need to work together as a team, [let's] come forward and report these. Tell your story and let's work together to get it figured out...because nobody deserves this."

Garcia said that statistically, the Dominican Republic has far fewer U.S. tourist deaths than other countries.

The US State Department website shows that between 2012 to 2018, 128 Americans died in the Dominican Republic from something other than natural causes. Dominican officials have been highlighting that statistic to argue that the country is safe, given that more than 2 million U.S. tourists visit there each year.

What is not clear, however, is how many U.S. tourists die of what Dominican authorities document as natural causes -- the focus of the worldwide headlines.

When asked by Fox News on repeated occasions what the annual number of such deaths is, neither the U.S. State Department nor Dominican authorities has provided them.

Dominican authorities and U.S. intelligence and public health experts say that ultimately, the FBI report on toxicology results, as well as tests relatives are having done here, will shed critical light on what caused the spate of deaths.

Former FBI special agent Manny Gomez said on Fox News that while, as Dominican officials have stressed, people do die on vacation all over the world, the similarities of the U.S. tourists deaths seem extraordinary. In nearly every case, the cause of death was deemed to be a heart attack, and many of the tourists consumed a beverage before dying. Particularly odd was the death of Holmes and Day at the same time in their room.

"I see something that's happening that's very suspicious," Gomez said. "These deaths have occurred in different resorts, it just hasn't been one resort, it's been at several different resorts in a short amount of time."

Gomez theorized it could be alcohol laced with methanol, "or another poisonous substance."

He said that would be "criminal in nature because people have been hurt and dying, there are dozens of people who've gotten severely ill, worse than that we don't know how many other bad batches are out there."

"That is why the FBI is there," Gomez said. "The next phase in the investigation if they identify that there's a toxic substance they have to find out where it came from and stop it, [find out] where it came from and who is responsible. The Dominican Republic needs to let the FBI do the good work that they do."

Garcia said they requested help from the FBI because they lack the resources that the agency has in the U.S.

"We're interested in knowing what caused" the deaths, he said.

Meanwhile, social media is filled with debates about whether there should be concern about vacationing in the Dominican Republic. Many said they were canceling reservations, but many others said they believe that the deaths were just fate and that the island is safe.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/dominican-tourism-official-vows-disciplinary-action-if-u-s-tourist-deaths-probe-finds-negligence

2019-06-22 12:00:07Z
52780318063495

Dominican tourism official vows 'disciplinary action' if U.S. tourist death probe finds negligence - Fox News

The Dominican Republic's tourism minister said on Friday that if the investigation into the rash of deaths of U.S. tourists finds wrongdoing or negligence, those responsible will face "disciplinary measures to fit their actions."

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia expressed confidence that the deaths were all rooted in natural causes and insisted that it is safe to vacation there.

"We wish these things didn't happen," he said. "But unfortunately, they do. ... That's why we're interested in knowing what happened to them."

Garcia stressed that autopsy reports that were done following the deaths of most of the tourists showed that there was nothing nefarious, and acknowledged the toxicological tests the FBI is conducting in its research center in Quantico, Va., in the deaths of three Americans who died in their rooms at Bahia Principe resorts.

"If there's something that went wrong, we will take the disciplinary measures that are warranted," Garcia said. "We will make whatever decision we must make if there's been negligence of any kind. We will act."

The FBI told Fox News on Friday that it has sent a team to the Dominican Republic to investigate the deaths.

Earlier in the day, Garcia held a press conference to make the case that the popular Caribbean vacation spot is safe and that it did not deserve the negative attention triggered by worldwide headlines about the rash of U.S. tourist deaths. The Dominican Republic has signed a $35,000 monthly contract with the New York-based Rubenstein public relations powerhouse to fight the negative publicity.

As Dominican officials tried to quell rising concerns among would-be travelers worldwide about safety there, the State Department on Friday confirmed to Fox News the June 17 death of a New York business owner, Vittorio Caruso, 56, who died after becoming critically ill at the Boca Chica Resort in Santo Domingo.

Vittorio Caruso, 56, of Glen Cove, N.Y. (Courtesy of Lisa Caruso)

Caruso's death is the third in a seven-day span in June, and he's the 11th American tourist to die in the Dominican Republic since last year. The case of another tourist, a woman from Pennsylvania who died in 2016 under similar circumstances, was made public by her family this past week after they read about the others and detected common threads.

The two other U.S. tourists who died this month are Leyla Cox, a 53-year-old hospital MRI technician from New York who was found dead in her hotel room on June 10, and Joseph Allen, 55, from New Jersey, who died in his room on June 13.

Caruso's sister-in-law, Lisa Maria Caruso, told Fox News that Vittorio was in good health and had owned and operated a pizzeria in New York with his brother until a month ago. She said that he'd traveled alone to the Dominican Republic.

DAUGHTER OF ARMY VET WHO DIED AT DOMINICAN RESORT: FUNERAL HOME 'PRESSURED' ME TO MAKE A DECISION ABOUT MY FATHER'S REMAINS

"We found out he was brought by ambulance to the hospital in respiratory distress after drinking something," Caruso said. "We were told he wasn't responding to any meds he was given and died. I honestly don't know exactly what happened, as we have been told conflicting stories from different people there."

"It is very hard to get a straight story from anyone there," she said, adding that relatives are awaiting the autopsy report. "They even wanted to cremate the body. We insisted on having the body sent back here."

"This was a complete shock to us, as Vittorio was not a sick person," Caruso said. "He was expected to return home on June 27."

Chris Palmer with granddaughter Ruby (Courtesy of Bernadette Hiller)

On Thursday, Garcia told Fox News that the Tourism Ministry has tested the alcohol, food, water, kitchens and other areas of the resorts where U.S. tourists have died. He said the results of those tests could be known as soon as Monday.

From the outset, Dominican officials have denounced the characterization of the deaths as mysterious or in some way linked.

"There are no mysterious deaths here," Garcia said in the Friday interview with Fox News."'Mysterious' implies that things happened that science cannot explain."

Garcia struck a sympathetic tone when asked what he would tell the deceased tourists' relatives, who have uniformly told stories of being given the run-around by resort workers and government officials as they've tried to learn more about what happened.

JUAN WILLIAMS: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HASN'T 'BEEN TRANSPARENT OR CLEAR' AMID RESORT DEATHS

Like Caruso, the relatives have said that the tourists, who range in age from 41 to 78, were in relatively good health and showed no signs of illness prior to traveling to the Dominican Republic. The deaths have been described as happening following a sudden and rapidly worsening onset of symptoms.

Several tourists died shortly after consuming a minibar drink.

"To the people who have lost loved ones here, we want to say that when we learned about each one, it's been the worst news we have received," Garcia said. "When those people come to the Dominican Republic, just like when someone goes on vacation, you go happy, your family expects to see you again. When this happens, there's pain and a sense of tragedy. The pain and the tragedy, we feel it [too]."

But Garcia took pains to emphasize that the Dominican Republic is one of the safest vacation spots in the world.

Will Cox and his mother, Leyla Cox (Courtesy of Will Cox)

“We’ve become the favorite destination for Americans first because of how we treat them," he said, "second, because of the natural resources God blessed the Dominican Republic with, and third, because of the excellent hotels and resorts, of which are of a standard above that of facilities in other countries.”

Attorneys and relatives of the U.S. tourists assailed efforts by Dominican officials to depict the deaths as an unfortunate twist of fate and promote the country as a desirable vacation spot. Some are moving to have independent autopsies and toxicological tests done in the United States.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC OFFICIALS DOWNPLAY SPATE OF AMERICAN TOURIST DEATHS IN CARIBBEAN NATION

Steve Bullock, an attorney representing the families of Edward Holmes, 63, and his fiance Cynthia Day, 47, who both were found dead in their room on May 30 at the five-star Grand Bahia Principe La Romana resort, said: "That kind of reckless statement is repulsive and repugnant. We will let the facts and medical reports tell the story."

Holmes and Day will be buried next week, Bullock said.

In an interview with Fox News host Harris Faulkner, Meghan Arnold --whose father Chris Palmer, an Army veteran, was found dead in his resort room on April 18, 2018--said that she is shocked that Dominican officials appear to resist seeing the rash of deaths of otherwise healthy people as mysterious.

"Honestly I have no words," she said when Faulkner asked for her reaction to the tourism minister's press conference. "I don't understand how somebody can see --what is this, 11 deaths now? They all have somewhat of the same [offical cause of death], they're all in the same area. He's claiming that 'You know, this can happen anywhere,' and I completely agree. Heart attacks can happen anywhere. Bad things can happen anywhere. But where else are we seeing eleven cases of almost the same thing in the same area as we're seeing in the Dominican Republic?"

"I'm just fighting to find answers," Arnold said. "I feel for all of these other families because I know how hard this process is and I just feel that we all need to work together as a team, [let's] come forward and report these. Tell your story and let's work together to get it figured out...because nobody deserves this."

Garcia said that statistically, the Dominican Republic has far fewer U.S. tourist deaths than other countries.

The US State Department website shows that between 2012 to 2018, 128 Americans died in the Dominican Republic from something other than natural causes. Dominican officials have been highlighting that statistic to argue that the country is safe, given that more than 2 million U.S. tourists visit there each year.

What is not clear, however, is how many U.S. tourists die of what Dominican authorities document as natural causes -- the focus of the worldwide headlines.

When asked by Fox News on repeated occasions what the annual number of such deaths is, neither the U.S. State Department nor Dominican authorities has provided them.

Dominican authorities and U.S. intelligence and public health experts say that ultimately, the FBI report on toxicology results, as well as tests relatives are having done here, will shed critical light on what caused the spate of deaths.

Former FBI special agent Manny Gomez said on Fox News that while, as Dominican officials have stressed, people do die on vacation all over the world, the similarities of the U.S. tourists deaths seem extraordinary. In nearly every case, the cause of death was deemed to be a heart attack, and many of the tourists consumed a beverage before dying. Particularly odd was the death of Holmes and Day at the same time in their room.

"I see something that's happening that's very suspicious," Gomez said. "These deaths have occurred in different resorts, it just hasn't been one resort, it's been at several different resorts in a short amount of time."

Gomez theorized it could be alcohol laced with methanol, "or another poisonous substance."

He said that would be "criminal in nature because people have been hurt and dying, there are dozens of people who've gotten severely ill, worse than that we don't know how many other bad batches are out there."

"That is why the FBI is there," Gomez said. "The next phase in the investigation if they identify that there's a toxic substance they have to find out where it came from and stop it, [find out] where it came from and who is responsible. The Dominican Republic needs to let the FBI do the good work that they do."

Garcia said they requested help from the FBI because they lack the resources that the agency has in the U.S.

"We're interested in knowing what caused" the deaths, he said.

Meanwhile, social media is filled with debates about whether there should be concern about vacationing in the Dominican Republic. Many said they were canceling reservations, but many others said they believe that the deaths were just fate and that the island is safe.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.foxnews.com/world/dominican-tourism-official-vows-disciplinary-action-if-u-s-tourist-deaths-probe-finds-negligence

2019-06-22 11:06:11Z
52780318063495

Dominican tourism official vows 'disciplinary action' if U.S. tourist death probe finds negligence - Fox News

The Dominican Republic's tourism minister said on Friday that if the investigation into the rash of deaths of U.S. tourists finds wrongdoing or negligence, those responsible will face "disciplinary measures to fit their actions."

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia expressed confidence that the deaths were all rooted in natural causes and insisted that it is safe to vacation there.

"We wish these things didn't happen," he said. "But unfortunately, they do. ... That's why we're interested in knowing what happened to them."

Garcia stressed that autopsy reports that were done following the deaths of most of the tourists showed that there was nothing nefarious, and acknowledged the toxicological tests the FBI is conducting in its research center in Quantico, Va., in the deaths of three Americans who died in their rooms at Bahia Principe resorts.

"If there's something that went wrong, we will take the disciplinary measures that are warranted," Garcia said. "We will make whatever decision we must make if there's been negligence of any kind. We will act."

The FBI told Fox News on Friday that it has sent a team to the Dominican Republic to investigate the deaths.

Earlier in the day, Garcia held a press conference to make the case that the popular Caribbean vacation spot is safe and that it did not deserve the negative attention triggered by worldwide headlines about the rash of U.S. tourist deaths. The Dominican Republic has signed a $35,000 monthly contract with the New York-based Rubenstein public relations powerhouse to fight the negative publicity.

As Dominican officials tried to quell rising concerns among would-be travelers worldwide about safety there, the State Department on Friday confirmed to Fox News the June 17 death of a New York business owner, Vittorio Caruso, 56, who died after becoming critically ill at the Boca Chica Resort in Santo Domingo.

Vittorio Caruso, 56, of Glen Cove, N.Y. (Courtesy of Lisa Caruso)

Caruso's death is the third in a seven-day span in June, and he's the 11th American tourist to die in the Dominican Republic since last year. The case of another tourist, a woman from Pennsylvania who died in 2016 under similar circumstances, was made public by her family this past week after they read about the others and detected common threads.

The two other U.S. tourists who died this month are Leyla Cox, a 53-year-old hospital MRI technician from New York who was found dead in her hotel room on June 10, and Joseph Allen, 55, from New Jersey, who died in his room on June 13.

Caruso's sister-in-law, Lisa Maria Caruso, told Fox News that Vittorio was in good health and had owned and operated a pizzeria in New York with his brother until a month ago. She said that he'd traveled alone to the Dominican Republic.

DAUGHTER OF ARMY VET WHO DIED AT DOMINICAN RESORT: FUNERAL HOME 'PRESSURED' ME TO MAKE A DECISION ABOUT MY FATHER'S REMAINS

"We found out he was brought by ambulance to the hospital in respiratory distress after drinking something," Caruso said. "We were told he wasn't responding to any meds he was given and died. I honestly don't know exactly what happened, as we have been told conflicting stories from different people there."

"It is very hard to get a straight story from anyone there," she said, adding that relatives are awaiting the autopsy report. "They even wanted to cremate the body. We insisted on having the body sent back here."

"This was a complete shock to us, as Vittorio was not a sick person," Caruso said. "He was expected to return home on June 27."

Chris Palmer with granddaughter Ruby (Courtesy of Bernadette Hiller)

On Thursday, Garcia told Fox News that the Tourism Ministry has tested the alcohol, food, water, kitchens and other areas of the resorts where U.S. tourists have died. He said the results of those tests could be known as soon as Monday.

From the outset, Dominican officials have denounced the characterization of the deaths as mysterious or in some way linked.

"There are no mysterious deaths here," Garcia said in the Friday interview with Fox News."'Mysterious' implies that things happened that science cannot explain."

Garcia struck a sympathetic tone when asked what he would tell the deceased tourists' relatives, who have uniformly told stories of being given the run-around by resort workers and government officials as they've tried to learn more about what happened.

JUAN WILLIAMS: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HASN'T 'BEEN TRANSPARENT OR CLEAR' AMID RESORT DEATHS

Like Caruso, the relatives have said that the tourists, who range in age from 41 to 78, were in relatively good health and showed no signs of illness prior to traveling to the Dominican Republic. The deaths have been described as happening following a sudden and rapidly worsening onset of symptoms.

Several tourists died shortly after consuming a minibar drink.

"To the people who have lost loved ones here, we want to say that when we learned about each one, it's been the worst news we have received," Garcia said. "When those people come to the Dominican Republic, just like when someone goes on vacation, you go happy, your family expects to see you again. When this happens, there's pain and a sense of tragedy. The pain and the tragedy, we feel it [too]."

But Garcia took pains to emphasize that the Dominican Republic is one of the safest vacation spots in the world.

Will Cox and his mother, Leyla Cox (Courtesy of Will Cox)

“We’ve become the favorite destination for Americans first because of how we treat them," he said, "second, because of the natural resources God blessed the Dominican Republic with, and third, because of the excellent hotels and resorts, of which are of a standard above that of facilities in other countries.”

Attorneys and relatives of the U.S. tourists assailed efforts by Dominican officials to depict the deaths as an unfortunate twist of fate and promote the country as a desirable vacation spot. Some are moving to have independent autopsies and toxicological tests done in the United States.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC OFFICIALS DOWNPLAY SPATE OF AMERICAN TOURIST DEATHS IN CARIBBEAN NATION

Steve Bullock, an attorney representing the families of Edward Holmes, 63, and his fiance Cynthia Day, 47, who both were found dead in their room on May 30 at the five-star Grand Bahia Principe La Romana resort, said: "That kind of reckless statement is repulsive and repugnant. We will let the facts and medical reports tell the story."

Holmes and Day will be buried next week, Bullock said.

In an interview with Fox News host Harris Faulkner, Meghan Arnold --whose father Chris Palmer, an Army veteran, was found dead in his resort room on April 18, 2018--said that she is shocked that Dominican officials appear to resist seeing the rash of deaths of otherwise healthy people as mysterious.

"Honestly I have no words," she said when Faulkner asked for her reaction to the tourism minister's press conference. "I don't understand how somebody can see --what is this, 11 deaths now? They all have somewhat of the same [offical cause of death], they're all in the same area. He's claiming that 'You know, this can happen anywhere,' and I completely agree. Heart attacks can happen anywhere. Bad things can happen anywhere. But where else are we seeing eleven cases of almost the same thing in the same area as we're seeing in the Dominican Republic?"

"I'm just fighting to find answers," Arnold said. "I feel for all of these other families because I know how hard this process is and I just feel that we all need to work together as a team, [let's] come forward and report these. Tell your story and let's work together to get it figured out...because nobody deserves this."

Garcia said that statistically, the Dominican Republic has far fewer U.S. tourist deaths than other countries.

The US State Department website shows that between 2012 to 2018, 128 Americans died in the Dominican Republic from something other than natural causes. Dominican officials have been highlighting that statistic to argue that the country is safe, given that more than 2 million U.S. tourists visit there each year.

What is not clear, however, is how many U.S. tourists die of what Dominican authorities document as natural causes -- the focus of the worldwide headlines.

When asked by Fox News on repeated occasions what the annual number of such deaths is, neither the U.S. State Department nor Dominican authorities has provided them.

Dominican authorities and U.S. intelligence and public health experts say that ultimately, the FBI report on toxicology results, as well as tests relatives are having done here, will shed critical light on what caused the spate of deaths.

Former FBI special agent Manny Gomez said on Fox News that while, as Dominican officials have stressed, people do die on vacation all over the world, the similarities of the U.S. tourists deaths seem extraordinary. In nearly every case, the cause of death was deemed to be a heart attack, and many of the tourists consumed a beverage before dying. Particularly odd was the death of Holmes and Day at the same time in their room.

"I see something that's happening that's very suspicious," Gomez said. "These deaths have occurred in different resorts, it just hasn't been one resort, it's been at several different resorts in a short amount of time."

Gomez theorized it could be alcohol laced with methanol, "or another poisonous substance."

He said that would be "criminal in nature because people have been hurt and dying, there are dozens of people who've gotten severely ill, worse than that we don't know how many other bad batches are out there."

"That is why the FBI is there," Gomez said. "The next phase in the investigation if they identify that there's a toxic substance they have to find out where it came from and stop it, [find out] where it came from and who is responsible. The Dominican Republic needs to let the FBI do the good work that they do."

Garcia said they requested help from the FBI because they lack the resources that the agency has in the U.S.

"We're interested in knowing what caused" the deaths, he said.

Meanwhile, social media is filled with debates about whether there should be concern about vacationing in the Dominican Republic. Many said they were canceling reservations, but many others said they believe that the deaths were just fate and that the island is safe.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/dominican-tourism-official-vows-disciplinary-action-if-u-s-tourist-deaths-probe-finds-negligence

2019-06-22 10:59:15Z
52780318063495

Dominican tourism official vows 'disciplinary action' if U.S. tourist death probe finds negligence - Fox News

The Dominican Republic's tourism minister said on Friday that if the investigation into the rash of deaths of U.S. tourists finds wrongdoing or negligence, those responsible will face "disciplinary measures to fit their actions."

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia expressed confidence that the deaths were all rooted in natural causes and insisted that it is safe to vacation there.

"We wish these things didn't happen," he said. "But unfortunately, they do. ... That's why we're interested in knowing what happened to them."

Garcia stressed that autopsy reports that were done following the deaths of most of the tourists showed that there was nothing nefarious, and acknowledged the toxicological tests the FBI is conducting in its research center in Quantico, Va., in the deaths of three Americans who died in their rooms at Bahia Principe resorts.

"If there's something that went wrong, we will take the disciplinary measures that are warranted," Garcia said. "We will make whatever decision we must make if there's been negligence of any kind. We will act."

The FBI told Fox News on Friday that it has sent a team to the Dominican Republic to investigate the deaths.

Earlier in the day, Garcia held a press conference to make the case that the popular Caribbean vacation spot is safe and that it did not deserve the negative attention triggered by worldwide headlines about the rash of U.S. tourist deaths. The Dominican Republic has signed a $35,000 monthly contract with the New York-based Rubenstein public relations powerhouse to fight the negative publicity.

As Dominican officials tried to quell rising concerns among would-be travelers worldwide about safety there, the State Department on Friday confirmed to Fox News the June 17 death of a New York business owner, Vittorio Caruso, 56, who died after becoming critically ill at the Boca Chica Resort in Santo Domingo.

Vittorio Caruso, 56, of Glen Cove, N.Y. (Courtesy of Lisa Caruso)

Caruso's death is the third in a seven-day span in June, and he's the 11th American tourist to die in the Dominican Republic since last year. The case of another tourist, a woman from Pennsylvania who died in 2016 under similar circumstances, was made public by her family this past week after they read about the others and detected common threads.

The two other U.S. tourists who died this month are Leyla Cox, a 53-year-old hospital MRI technician from New York who was found dead in her hotel room on June 10, and Joseph Allen, 55, from New Jersey, who died in his room on June 13.

Caruso's sister-in-law, Lisa Maria Caruso, told Fox News that Vittorio was in good health and had owned and operated a pizzeria in New York with his brother until a month ago. She said that he'd traveled alone to the Dominican Republic.

DAUGHTER OF ARMY VET WHO DIED AT DOMINICAN RESORT: FUNERAL HOME 'PRESSURED' ME TO MAKE A DECISION ABOUT MY FATHER'S REMAINS

"We found out he was brought by ambulance to the hospital in respiratory distress after drinking something," Caruso said. "We were told he wasn't responding to any meds he was given and died. I honestly don't know exactly what happened, as we have been told conflicting stories from different people there."

"It is very hard to get a straight story from anyone there," she said, adding that relatives are awaiting the autopsy report. "They even wanted to cremate the body. We insisted on having the body sent back here."

"This was a complete shock to us, as Vittorio was not a sick person," Caruso said. "He was expected to return home on June 27."

Chris Palmer with granddaughter Ruby (Courtesy of Bernadette Hiller)

On Thursday, Garcia told Fox News that the Tourism Ministry has tested the alcohol, food, water, kitchens and other areas of the resorts where U.S. tourists have died. He said the results of those tests could be known as soon as Monday.

From the outset, Dominican officials have denounced the characterization of the deaths as mysterious or in some way linked.

"There are no mysterious deaths here," Garcia said in the Friday interview with Fox News."'Mysterious' implies that things happened that science cannot explain."

Garcia struck a sympathetic tone when asked what he would tell the deceased tourists' relatives, who have uniformly told stories of being given the run-around by resort workers and government officials as they've tried to learn more about what happened.

JUAN WILLIAMS: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HASN'T 'BEEN TRANSPARENT OR CLEAR' AMID RESORT DEATHS

Like Caruso, the relatives have said that the tourists, who range in age from 41 to 78, were in relatively good health and showed no signs of illness prior to traveling to the Dominican Republic. The deaths have been described as happening following a sudden and rapidly worsening onset of symptoms.

Several tourists died shortly after consuming a minibar drink.

"To the people who have lost loved ones here, we want to say that when we learned about each one, it's been the worst news we have received," Garcia said. "When those people come to the Dominican Republic, just like when someone goes on vacation, you go happy, your family expects to see you again. When this happens, there's pain and a sense of tragedy. The pain and the tragedy, we feel it [too]."

But Garcia took pains to emphasize that the Dominican Republic is one of the safest vacation spots in the world.

Will Cox and his mother, Leyla Cox (Courtesy of Will Cox)

“We’ve become the favorite destination for Americans first because of how we treat them," he said, "second, because of the natural resources God blessed the Dominican Republic with, and third, because of the excellent hotels and resorts, of which are of a standard above that of facilities in other countries.”

Attorneys and relatives of the U.S. tourists assailed efforts by Dominican officials to depict the deaths as an unfortunate twist of fate and promote the country as a desirable vacation spot. Some are moving to have independent autopsies and toxicological tests done in the United States.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC OFFICIALS DOWNPLAY SPATE OF AMERICAN TOURIST DEATHS IN CARIBBEAN NATION

Steve Bullock, an attorney representing the families of Edward Holmes, 63, and his fiance Cynthia Day, 47, who both were found dead in their room on May 30 at the five-star Grand Bahia Principe La Romana resort, said: "That kind of reckless statement is repulsive and repugnant. We will let the facts and medical reports tell the story."

Holmes and Day will be buried next week, Bullock said.

In an interview with Fox News host Harris Faulkner, Meghan Arnold --whose father Chris Palmer, an Army veteran, was found dead in his resort room on April 18, 2018--said that she is shocked that Dominican officials appear to resist seeing the rash of deaths of otherwise healthy people as mysterious.

"Honestly I have no words," she said when Faulkner asked for her reaction to the tourism minister's press conference. "I don't understand how somebody can see --what is this, 11 deaths now? They all have somewhat of the same [offical cause of death], they're all in the same area. He's claiming that 'You know, this can happen anywhere,' and I completely agree. Heart attacks can happen anywhere. Bad things can happen anywhere. But where else are we seeing eleven cases of almost the same thing in the same area as we're seeing in the Dominican Republic?"

"I'm just fighting to find answers," Arnold said. "I feel for all of these other families because I know how hard this process is and I just feel that we all need to work together as a team, [let's] come forward and report these. Tell your story and let's work together to get it figured out...because nobody deserves this."

Garcia said that statistically, the Dominican Republic has far fewer U.S. tourist deaths than other countries.

The US State Department website shows that between 2012 to 2018, 128 Americans died in the Dominican Republic from something other than natural causes. Dominican officials have been highlighting that statistic to argue that the country is safe, given that more than 2 million U.S. tourists visit there each year.

What is not clear, however, is how many U.S. tourists die of what Dominican authorities document as natural causes -- the focus of the worldwide headlines.

When asked by Fox News on repeated occasions what the annual number of such deaths is, neither the U.S. State Department nor Dominican authorities has provided them.

Dominican authorities and U.S. intelligence and public health experts say that ultimately, the FBI report on toxicology results, as well as tests relatives are having done here, will shed critical light on what caused the spate of deaths.

Former FBI special agent Manny Gomez said on Fox News that while, as Dominican officials have stressed, people do die on vacation all over the world, the similarities of the U.S. tourists deaths seem extraordinary. In nearly every case, the cause of death was deemed to be a heart attack, and many of the tourists consumed a beverage before dying. Particularly odd was the death of Holmes and Day at the same time in their room.

"I see something that's happening that's very suspicious," Gomez said. "These deaths have occurred in different resorts, it just hasn't been one resort, it's been at several different resorts in a short amount of time."

Gomez theorized it could be alcohol laced with methanol, "or another poisonous substance."

He said that would be "criminal in nature because people have been hurt and dying, there are dozens of people who've gotten severely ill, worse than that we don't know how many other bad batches are out there."

"That is why the FBI is there," Gomez said. "The next phase in the investigation if they identify that there's a toxic substance they have to find out where it came from and stop it, [find out] where it came from and who is responsible. The Dominican Republic needs to let the FBI do the good work that they do."

Garcia said they requested help from the FBI because they lack the resources that the agency has in the U.S.

"We're interested in knowing what caused" the deaths, he said.

Meanwhile, social media is filled with debates about whether there should be concern about vacationing in the Dominican Republic. Many said they were canceling reservations, but many others said they believe that the deaths were just fate and that the island is safe.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/dominican-tourism-official-vows-disciplinary-action-if-u-s-tourist-deaths-probe-finds-negligence

2019-06-22 09:58:29Z
52780318063495

Dominican tourism official vows 'disciplinary action' if U.S. tourist death probe finds negligence - Fox News

The Dominican Republic's tourism minister said on Friday that if the investigation into the rash of deaths of U.S. tourists finds wrongdoing or negligence, those responsible will face "disciplinary measures to fit their actions."

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia expressed confidence that the deaths were all rooted in natural causes and insisted that it is safe to vacation there.

"We wish these things didn't happen," he said. "But unfortunately, they do. ... That's why we're interested in knowing what happened to them."

Garcia stressed that autopsy reports that were done following the deaths of most of the tourists showed that there was nothing nefarious, and acknowledged the toxicological tests the FBI is conducting in its research center in Quantico, Va., in the deaths of three Americans who died in their rooms at Bahia Principe resorts.

"If there's something that went wrong, we will take the disciplinary measures that are warranted," Garcia said. "We will make whatever decision we must make if there's been negligence of any kind. We will act."

The FBI told Fox News on Friday that it has sent a team to the Dominican Republic to investigate the deaths.

Earlier in the day, Garcia held a press conference to make the case that the popular Caribbean vacation spot is safe and that it did not deserve the negative attention triggered by worldwide headlines about the rash of U.S. tourist deaths. The Dominican Republic has signed a $35,000 monthly contract with the New York-based Rubenstein public relations powerhouse to fight the negative publicity.

As Dominican officials tried to quell rising concerns among would-be travelers worldwide about safety there, the State Department on Friday confirmed to Fox News the June 17 death of a New York business owner, Vittorio Caruso, 56, who died after becoming critically ill at the Boca Chica Resort in Santo Domingo.

Vittorio Caruso, 56, of Glen Cove, N.Y. (Courtesy of Lisa Caruso)

Caruso's death is the third in a seven-day span in June, and he's the 11th American tourist to die in the Dominican Republic since last year. The case of another tourist, a woman from Pennsylvania who died in 2016 under similar circumstances, was made public by her family this past week after they read about the others and detected common threads.

The two other U.S. tourists who died this month are Leyla Cox, a 53-year-old hospital MRI technician from New York who was found dead in her hotel room on June 10, and Joseph Allen, 55, from New Jersey, who died in his room on June 13.

Caruso's sister-in-law, Lisa Maria Caruso, told Fox News that Vittorio was in good health and had owned and operated a pizzeria in New York with his brother until a month ago. She said that he'd traveled alone to the Dominican Republic.

DAUGHTER OF ARMY VET WHO DIED AT DOMINICAN RESORT: FUNERAL HOME 'PRESSURED' ME TO MAKE A DECISION ABOUT MY FATHER'S REMAINS

"We found out he was brought by ambulance to the hospital in respiratory distress after drinking something," Caruso said. "We were told he wasn't responding to any meds he was given and died. I honestly don't know exactly what happened, as we have been told conflicting stories from different people there."

"It is very hard to get a straight story from anyone there," she said, adding that relatives are awaiting the autopsy report. "They even wanted to cremate the body. We insisted on having the body sent back here."

"This was a complete shock to us, as Vittorio was not a sick person," Caruso said. "He was expected to return home on June 27."

Chris Palmer with granddaughter Ruby (Courtesy of Bernadette Hiller)

On Thursday, Garcia told Fox News that the Tourism Ministry has tested the alcohol, food, water, kitchens and other areas of the resorts where U.S. tourists have died. He said the results of those tests could be known as soon as Monday.

From the outset, Dominican officials have denounced the characterization of the deaths as mysterious or in some way linked.

"There are no mysterious deaths here," Garcia said in the Friday interview with Fox News."'Mysterious' implies that things happened that science cannot explain."

Garcia struck a sympathetic tone when asked what he would tell the deceased tourists' relatives, who have uniformly told stories of being given the run-around by resort workers and government officials as they've tried to learn more about what happened.

JUAN WILLIAMS: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HASN'T 'BEEN TRANSPARENT OR CLEAR' AMID RESORT DEATHS

Like Caruso, the relatives have said that the tourists, who range in age from 41 to 78, were in relatively good health and showed no signs of illness prior to traveling to the Dominican Republic. The deaths have been described as happening following a sudden and rapidly worsening onset of symptoms.

Several tourists died shortly after consuming a minibar drink.

"To the people who have lost loved ones here, we want to say that when we learned about each one, it's been the worst news we have received," Garcia said. "When those people come to the Dominican Republic, just like when someone goes on vacation, you go happy, your family expects to see you again. When this happens, there's pain and a sense of tragedy. The pain and the tragedy, we feel it [too]."

But Garcia took pains to emphasize that the Dominican Republic is one of the safest vacation spots in the world.

Will Cox and his mother, Leyla Cox (Courtesy of Will Cox)

“We’ve become the favorite destination for Americans first because of how we treat them," he said, "second, because of the natural resources God blessed the Dominican Republic with, and third, because of the excellent hotels and resorts, of which are of a standard above that of facilities in other countries.”

Attorneys and relatives of the U.S. tourists assailed efforts by Dominican officials to depict the deaths as an unfortunate twist of fate and promote the country as a desirable vacation spot. Some are moving to have independent autopsies and toxicological tests done in the United States.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC OFFICIALS DOWNPLAY SPATE OF AMERICAN TOURIST DEATHS IN CARIBBEAN NATION

Steve Bullock, an attorney representing the families of Edward Holmes, 63, and his fiance Cynthia Day, 47, who both were found dead in their room on May 30 at the five-star Grand Bahia Principe La Romana resort, said: "That kind of reckless statement is repulsive and repugnant. We will let the facts and medical reports tell the story."

Holmes and Day will be buried next week, Bullock said.

In an interview with Fox News host Harris Faulkner, Meghan Arnold --whose father Chris Palmer, an Army veteran, was found dead in his resort room on April 18, 2018--said that she is shocked that Dominican officials appear to resist seeing the rash of deaths of otherwise healthy people as mysterious.

"Honestly I have no words," she said when Faulkner asked for her reaction to the tourism minister's press conference. "I don't understand how somebody can see --what is this, 11 deaths now? They all have somewhat of the same [offical cause of death], they're all in the same area. He's claiming that 'You know, this can happen anywhere,' and I completely agree. Heart attacks can happen anywhere. Bad things can happen anywhere. But where else are we seeing eleven cases of almost the same thing in the same area as we're seeing in the Dominican Republic?"

"I'm just fighting to find answers," Arnold said. "I feel for all of these other families because I know how hard this process is and I just feel that we all need to work together as a team, [let's] come forward and report these. Tell your story and let's work together to get it figured out...because nobody deserves this."

Garcia said that statistically, the Dominican Republic has far fewer U.S. tourist deaths than other countries.

The US State Department website shows that between 2012 to 2018, 128 Americans died in the Dominican Republic from something other than natural causes. Dominican officials have been highlighting that statistic to argue that the country is safe, given that more than 2 million U.S. tourists visit there each year.

What is not clear, however, is how many U.S. tourists die of what Dominican authorities document as natural causes -- the focus of the worldwide headlines.

When asked by Fox News on repeated occasions what the annual number of such deaths is, neither the U.S. State Department nor Dominican authorities has provided them.

Dominican authorities and U.S. intelligence and public health experts say that ultimately, the FBI report on toxicology results, as well as tests relatives are having done here, will shed critical light on what caused the spate of deaths.

Former FBI special agent Manny Gomez said on Fox News that while, as Dominican officials have stressed, people do die on vacation all over the world, the similarities of the U.S. tourists deaths seem extraordinary. In nearly every case, the cause of death was deemed to be a heart attack, and many of the tourists consumed a beverage before dying. Particularly odd was the death of Holmes and Day at the same time in their room.

"I see something that's happening that's very suspicious," Gomez said. "These deaths have occurred in different resorts, it just hasn't been one resort, it's been at several different resorts in a short amount of time."

Gomez theorized it could be alcohol laced with methanol, "or another poisonous substance."

He said that would be "criminal in nature because people have been hurt and dying, there are dozens of people who've gotten severely ill, worse than that we don't know how many other bad batches are out there."

"That is why the FBI is there," Gomez said. "The next phase in the investigation if they identify that there's a toxic substance they have to find out where it came from and stop it, [find out] where it came from and who is responsible. The Dominican Republic needs to let the FBI do the good work that they do."

Garcia said they requested help from the FBI because they lack the resources that the agency has in the U.S.

"We're interested in knowing what caused" the deaths, he said.

Meanwhile, social media is filled with debates about whether there should be concern about vacationing in the Dominican Republic. Many said they were canceling reservations, but many others said they believe that the deaths were just fate and that the island is safe.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.foxnews.com/world/dominican-tourism-official-vows-disciplinary-action-if-u-s-tourist-deaths-probe-finds-negligence

2019-06-22 09:03:04Z
52780318063495

Dominican tourism official vows 'disciplinary action' if U.S. tourist death probe finds negligence - Fox News

The Dominican Republic's tourism minister said on Friday that if the investigation into the rash of deaths of U.S. tourists finds wrongdoing or negligence, those responsible will face "disciplinary measures to fit their actions."

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia expressed confidence that the deaths were all rooted in natural causes and insisted that it is safe to vacation there.

"We wish these things didn't happen," he said. "But unfortunately, they do. ... That's why we're interested in knowing what happened to them."

Garcia stressed that autopsy reports that were done following the deaths of most of the tourists showed that there was nothing nefarious, and acknowledged the toxicological tests the FBI is conducting in its research center in Quantico, Va., in the deaths of three Americans who died in their rooms at Bahia Principe resorts.

"If there's something that went wrong, we will take the disciplinary measures that are warranted," Garcia said. "We will make whatever decision we must make if there's been negligence of any kind. We will act."

The FBI told Fox News on Friday that it has sent a team to the Dominican Republic to investigate the deaths.

Earlier in the day, Garcia held a press conference to make the case that the popular Caribbean vacation spot is safe and that it did not deserve the negative attention triggered by worldwide headlines about the rash of U.S. tourist deaths. The Dominican Republic has signed a $35,000 monthly contract with the New York-based Rubenstein public relations powerhouse to fight the negative publicity.

As Dominican officials tried to quell rising concerns among would-be travelers worldwide about safety there, the State Department on Friday confirmed to Fox News the June 17 death of a New York business owner, Vittorio Caruso, 56, who died after becoming critically ill at the Boca Chica Resort in Santo Domingo.

Vittorio Caruso, 56, of Glen Cove, N.Y. (Courtesy of Lisa Caruso)

Caruso's death is the third in a seven-day span in June, and he's the 11th American tourist to die in the Dominican Republic since last year. The case of another tourist, a woman from Pennsylvania who died in 2016 under similar circumstances, was made public by her family this past week after they read about the others and detected common threads.

The two other U.S. tourists who died this month are Leyla Cox, a 53-year-old hospital MRI technician from New York who was found dead in her hotel room on June 10, and Joseph Allen, 55, from New Jersey, who died in his room on June 13.

Caruso's sister-in-law, Lisa Maria Caruso, told Fox News that Vittorio was in good health and had owned and operated a pizzeria in New York with his brother until a month ago. She said that he'd traveled alone to the Dominican Republic.

DAUGHTER OF ARMY VET WHO DIED AT DOMINICAN RESORT: FUNERAL HOME 'PRESSURED' ME TO MAKE A DECISION ABOUT MY FATHER'S REMAINS

"We found out he was brought by ambulance to the hospital in respiratory distress after drinking something," Caruso said. "We were told he wasn't responding to any meds he was given and died. I honestly don't know exactly what happened, as we have been told conflicting stories from different people there."

"It is very hard to get a straight story from anyone there," she said, adding that relatives are awaiting the autopsy report. "They even wanted to cremate the body. We insisted on having the body sent back here."

"This was a complete shock to us, as Vittorio was not a sick person," Caruso said. "He was expected to return home on June 27."

Chris Palmer with granddaughter Ruby (Courtesy of Bernadette Hiller)

On Thursday, Garcia told Fox News that the Tourism Ministry has tested the alcohol, food, water, kitchens and other areas of the resorts where U.S. tourists have died. He said the results of those tests could be known as soon as Monday.

From the outset, Dominican officials have denounced the characterization of the deaths as mysterious or in some way linked.

"There are no mysterious deaths here," Garcia said in the Friday interview with Fox News."'Mysterious' implies that things happened that science cannot explain."

Garcia struck a sympathetic tone when asked what he would tell the deceased tourists' relatives, who have uniformly told stories of being given the run-around by resort workers and government officials as they've tried to learn more about what happened.

JUAN WILLIAMS: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HASN'T 'BEEN TRANSPARENT OR CLEAR' AMID RESORT DEATHS

Like Caruso, the relatives have said that the tourists, who range in age from 41 to 78, were in relatively good health and showed no signs of illness prior to traveling to the Dominican Republic. The deaths have been described as happening following a sudden and rapidly worsening onset of symptoms.

Several tourists died shortly after consuming a minibar drink.

"To the people who have lost loved ones here, we want to say that when we learned about each one, it's been the worst news we have received," Garcia said. "When those people come to the Dominican Republic, just like when someone goes on vacation, you go happy, your family expects to see you again. When this happens, there's pain and a sense of tragedy. The pain and the tragedy, we feel it [too]."

But Garcia took pains to emphasize that the Dominican Republic is one of the safest vacation spots in the world.

Will Cox and his mother, Leyla Cox (Courtesy of Will Cox)

“We’ve become the favorite destination for Americans first because of how we treat them," he said, "second, because of the natural resources God blessed the Dominican Republic with, and third, because of the excellent hotels and resorts, of which are of a standard above that of facilities in other countries.”

Attorneys and relatives of the U.S. tourists assailed efforts by Dominican officials to depict the deaths as an unfortunate twist of fate and promote the country as a desirable vacation spot. Some are moving to have independent autopsies and toxicological tests done in the United States.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC OFFICIALS DOWNPLAY SPATE OF AMERICAN TOURIST DEATHS IN CARIBBEAN NATION

Steve Bullock, an attorney representing the families of Edward Holmes, 63, and his fiance Cynthia Day, 47, who both were found dead in their room on May 30 at the five-star Grand Bahia Principe La Romana resort, said: "That kind of reckless statement is repulsive and repugnant. We will let the facts and medical reports tell the story."

Holmes and Day will be buried next week, Bullock said.

In an interview with Fox News host Harris Faulkner, Meghan Arnold --whose father Chris Palmer, an Army veteran, was found dead in his resort room on April 18, 2018--said that she is shocked that Dominican officials appear to resist seeing the rash of deaths of otherwise healthy people as mysterious.

"Honestly I have no words," she said when Faulkner asked for her reaction to the tourism minister's press conference. "I don't understand how somebody can see --what is this, 11 deaths now? They all have somewhat of the same [offical cause of death], they're all in the same area. He's claiming that 'You know, this can happen anywhere,' and I completely agree. Heart attacks can happen anywhere. Bad things can happen anywhere. But where else are we seeing eleven cases of almost the same thing in the same area as we're seeing in the Dominican Republic?"

"I'm just fighting to find answers," Arnold said. "I feel for all of these other families because I know how hard this process is and I just feel that we all need to work together as a team, [let's] come forward and report these. Tell your story and let's work together to get it figured out...because nobody deserves this."

Garcia said that statistically, the Dominican Republic has far fewer U.S. tourist deaths than other countries.

The US State Department website shows that between 2012 to 2018, 128 Americans died in the Dominican Republic from something other than natural causes. Dominican officials have been highlighting that statistic to argue that the country is safe, given that more than 2 million U.S. tourists visit there each year.

What is not clear, however, is how many U.S. tourists die of what Dominican authorities document as natural causes -- the focus of the worldwide headlines.

When asked by Fox News on repeated occasions what the annual number of such deaths is, neither the U.S. State Department nor Dominican authorities has provided them.

Dominican authorities and U.S. intelligence and public health experts say that ultimately, the FBI report on toxicology results, as well as tests relatives are having done here, will shed critical light on what caused the spate of deaths.

Former FBI special agent Manny Gomez said on Fox News that while, as Dominican officials have stressed, people do die on vacation all over the world, the similarities of the U.S. tourists deaths seem extraordinary. In nearly every case, the cause of death was deemed to be a heart attack, and many of the tourists consumed a beverage before dying. Particularly odd was the death of Holmes and Day at the same time in their room.

"I see something that's happening that's very suspicious," Gomez said. "These deaths have occurred in different resorts, it just hasn't been one resort, it's been at several different resorts in a short amount of time."

Gomez theorized it could be alcohol laced with methanol, "or another poisonous substance."

He said that would be "criminal in nature because people have been hurt and dying, there are dozens of people who've gotten severely ill, worse than that we don't know how many other bad batches are out there."

"That is why the FBI is there," Gomez said. "The next phase in the investigation if they identify that there's a toxic substance they have to find out where it came from and stop it, [find out] where it came from and who is responsible. The Dominican Republic needs to let the FBI do the good work that they do."

Garcia said they requested help from the FBI because they lack the resources that the agency has in the U.S.

"We're interested in knowing what caused" the deaths, he said.

Meanwhile, social media is filled with debates about whether there should be concern about vacationing in the Dominican Republic. Many said they were canceling reservations, but many others said they believe that the deaths were just fate and that the island is safe.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.foxnews.com/world/dominican-tourism-official-vows-disciplinary-action-if-u-s-tourist-deaths-probe-finds-negligence

2019-06-22 08:54:14Z
52780318063495