At least two dead is the toll of the fire that affected the Channel 6, Canal del Sol installations at Cub Scouts 19 in the Naco neighborhood of Santo Domingo. The building was under renovation. An explosion was heard at 3pm, followed by a major fire.
Four workers were hospitalized due to severe burns and smoke inhalation.
The deceased are 77-year old painter José del Carmen Reyes, whose corpse was found in the building, and 23-year old Jefrey Isaac Vásquez Holguín who was taken to the nearby Armed Forces Hospital, but could not be saved. A report in Hoy indicates Reyes was a cigarette smoker. The Firemen service has not issued a statement on the possible causes of the fire.
47-year old Danny Concepción, 56-year old Germán Rodríguez, 22 year old Kelvin Bryan Castillo and 21 year old Angel Hiraldo are among those who suffered injuries in the fire.
The director of the channel, Angel Puello was taken to a hospital for medical care due to the smoke inhalation.
The channel was little known before the blaze. Media reports say Canal del Sol is a venture of the De Camps family. The Por Quien Votarias online platform links Channel 6 to Alvaro De Camps, who it explains inherited the channel from his father, former PRD politician Hatuey de Camps. De Camps’ mother was the Abinader administration’s first director of the press and propaganda division of the Presidency. She subsequently was named Minister of Culture. The online news platform says that offshore companies related to the channel Blackfont Investments and B.O.A. Group SA received around RD$100 million in pay for transmitting educational content from the Ministry of Education.
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El Caribe
Listin Diario
Por Quien Votarias
27 April 2022