After the Easter long weekend when thousands of Dominicans leave town for fun and rest in inner cities and vacation areas, the cities slowly recovered over the weekend itself. On Saturday and Sunday, supermarkets in Santo Domingo were packed with those that were staying and would prepare barbecues for friends and family, and to tell from traffic on Saturday, thousands did not leave town.
The National Emergency Commission (COE) issued a report on Monday, whereby the toll was 56 deaths and 832 injured from Thursday to Sunday. Retired General Luis Luna Paulino, president of the COE, said this is less than the death toll in 2004. In 2004, there were 63 deaths and 1,216 persons injured. In 2004, nevertheless, deaths were many more than in 2003, when 25 deaths were reported.
Luna Paulino was pleased with efforts to keep the death and accident toll down. Speaking on the Matinal TV program on Channel 5, he said that accidents were down around 25%. He also had words of praise for the civic behavior of the population that helped keep accidents down. News reports commented that there had been no tragic events at Boca Chica beach, which normally may receive up to 300,000 beachgoers on an afternoon of an Easter holiday.
Hundreds of thousands of Dominicans enjoyed the nation’s beaches and water holes this past weekend. According to Hoy newspaper, there were fewer wounded and dead persons reported in the public hospitals around Santo Domingo. Medics at Dario Contreras Hospital said they had prepared for more cases.
Most of the injuries were the result of traffic accidents, while the main causes of the deaths were traffic accidents and drownings. Seven children drowned. There were 25,000 volunteers and 1,400 AMET traffic officers spread out over the entire nation, directing traffic and assisting travelers.