Three bodies were recovered at a residential tower under construction in the Evaristo Morales neighborhood in the National District. National District Fire Department chief Jose Luis Herasme said that the bodies of two workers were reported missing and their bodies found soon after the explosion. A third corpse was found later under the rubble.
The explosion occurred around 10 pm on Tuesday, 12 November 2019 at the building located on Emiliano Tardiff street. Four others were wounded of the seven men, mostly Haitians that were at the construction site that evening, as reported in the media.
The deceased have been identified as Dominicans Rafael Alberto Celestino Hernández and Jean Luis Andújar García and Haitian national Pierre Jean Chenelel. The corpses were sent to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF) for autopsies.
The four wounded were taken to the burn unit at the Ney Arias Lora Trauma Center in Santo Domingo. Reports are that they had burn wounds on 9 to 24% of their bodies. They were identified by the hospital as 34-year old Robert Pol, 38-year old Esmerlin Andujar García, 34-year old Frisne Exavier, and 37-year old Bufet Moneli.
Fire chief Herasme has called the explosion a deflagration, or a fire in which a flame travels rapidly through a gas. The causes have yet to be determined. The surviving workers said that at the time of the explosion, the men were painting inside a water cistern.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
El Caribe
14 November 2019