Community Chat

[bridal_diva]

@cherry 

And the resort said her whole story was manufactured and untrue.! They saidshe as drunk & unruly - well. she din't beat herself up did she! 

[cherry]

The only one that had pre existing heart problems what  the Cocoron lady's brother

I haven't read anything to date ,that says anyone else had heart problems

Surely they can't all have had an undiagnosed heart condition?

How can all of the machines that test for toxins be broken?

Just like the claims against the lady who was beaten and left for dead..full of holes . I won't say lies ,even though I think they are

[bridal_diva]

Many years ago we went to Curaco; it was during the oil embargo. All of the beachfront areas had armed guards with bayonets on their rifles. Not something you want to see on the white sand of a beach.

Truthfully, I was followed by one of them as I  walked to the hotel gift shop. That freaked  me out even more.

[cherry]

Cops are investigating whether at least seven tourists who mysteriously died in the Dominican Republic were poisoned by counterfeit booze, The Post has learned.

Officials want to know who supplied the alcoholic beverages the victims drank in the minutes and hours before their deaths over the past year — and if the drinks had any dangerous chemicals in them, law enforcement sources said.

The FBI is assisting and will take blood samples from the dead back to its research center in Quantico, Va., a source said.

The Dominican government insists the fatalities are isolated incidents, while reps for both of the resorts where victims have died — the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and Bahia Principe — described the deaths as simple accidents.

But most of the deaths bear similarities, as they involve apparently healthy adults — at least some of whom drank from their hotel room minibar before suddenly becoming gravely sick.

Five American tourists have died in mysterious circumstances on the island this year, while the family of two others who died in 2018 say they now suspect their loved ones met foul play.

see also

The eerie similarities surrounding tourist deaths in Dominican Republic

Others have reported falling ill, but surviving, after drinking from their minibars.

A Post reporter at one of the resorts noted the vodka in the room had a strange, potent smell resembling pure alcohol.

Lawrence Kobilinsky, a forensic science professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, said the symptoms among some of the dead — including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea — were consistent with poisoning from methanol or pesticides.

Methanol is a type of alcohol not safe for humans. It is regularly used as antifreeze.

“Adulterated alcohol is usually methanol added to alcohol or just plain methanol, which is very, very toxic,” Kobilinsky said.

“It looks to me, from what I’ve heard and read, is that something was added to the drinks or bottles in those little refrigerators.”

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Robert Bell Wallace

Facebook

Health inspectors from multiple agencies conducted extensive tests on the pool, air conditioning units, food areas and alcohol at two Bahia Principe resorts where three visitors died, said the Dominican Ministry of Public Health. They are waiting for the results.

“There should be no methanol at all” in the liquor, Kobilinsky said. “If it’s there, it means it’s been adulterated or put there deliberately.”

In 2017, Dominican National Police dismantled five labs used for the manufacture of alcohol not safe for human consumption.

But Hard Rock bartender Angel Santana, 43, said contamination claims were “not possible.”

“I have been working here for nine years, and everything here has always been very safe,” he said.

In a statement, the Hard Rock said clinical tests from Hospiten Bavaro, a hospital in Punta Cana, showed both deaths at its resort were caused by heart attacks.

The hotel also said it buys only “unopened products from licensed and reputable vendors.”

see also

Staten Island woman is latest to mysteriously die in Dominican Republic

The first suspicious death at the Hard Rock came in July 2018, when American tourist David Harrison, 45, fell ill in his room and died. On April 14, Robert Bell Wallace, 67, also died there.

On May 25, Miranda Schaupp-Werner, 41, of Pennsylvania, died after drinking from the minibar of her room at the Luxury Bahia Principe Bouganville resort.

Five days later, Maryland couple Nathaniel Edward Holmes, 63, and Cynthia Day, 49 were found dead in their room at the neighboring Grand Bahia Principe.

Yvette Monique Short, of Philadelphia, died in June 2018 after drinking from her minibar at the resort.

The family of a seventh person, Leyla Cox of Staten Island, said on Thursday that she died mysteriously in her room during a trip last week. It was not clear where she was staying.

[SahmIam]

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@suzyQ3 wrote:

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@SahmIam wrote:

@suzyQ3 Well then, I guess you can throw some of the blame at me. Then again, I've seen resentment seep into many a persons' life and not just those dealing with tourists. I think it's unrealistic to not consider it as a possibility since there are many who act out all over the world against those they don't like/don't agree with/feel resentment towards (for whatever the reason). 

I don't have to leave my own neighborhood to see it in action.

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Fair enough, @SahmIam . But you can see how one person's musing can lead to another person's thinking that this was in fact the case.

It still think that when it comes to a country with beautiful resorts surrounded by forms of poverty, such a supposition can sound rather colonialistic in tone.

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@suzyQ3  I absolutely can. In the end, all aspects of a situation must be considered. To choose not to for whatever reason may be the reason it continues. Sad, but true.

[Vivian]

My vacations were always in France and Québec, to get my fill of francophone culture. I never had to worry about bad food or bad booze. Sorry, but I loved my vacations...the  food, the wine, and the ambiance. I never wanted to worry about other stuff.

[colliemom4]

There was a story on Yahoo news this morning about a man that said he felt deathly ill after swimming in a pool over there.

[cherry]

A New York man had died while under the knife for liposuction by a doctor in the Dominican Republic who has had at least three other patients die while in surgery.

Manuel Nuñez, 29, a restaurant worker living in New York City, returned to his native Dominican Republic for the surgery – his third – this time by Dr. Oscar Polanco at the Caribbean Plastic Surgery in Santo Domingo, local outlet CDN reported.

The surgery was scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday. It would be hours later, however, that his family was told that Nuñez remained still unconscious from the procedure.

Manuel Nunez, 29, died while undergoing liposuction at a clinic in the Dominican Republic. (Facebook)

The hospital’s director told the press that Nuñez suffered respiratory problems after “the patient underwent body liposuction plus fat transfer to the gluteal region.” Dr. Martha Vargas said that the staff immediately performed CPR on the patient to no avail, the Daily Mail reported.

Polanco, however, is not a certified plastic surgeon, but rather a gynecologist who has had at least three patients die – including two women within a one-week period in 2015.

[cherry]

 It sounds to me like anything goes in that country , healthwise

[colliemom4]

Jerry Martin of Plant City, Fla., told the station that he went to Punta Cana on May 17 to celebrate his 40th wedding anniversary with his wife. A few days later, he started feeling sick while lounging at the pool.

"Fire in the bottom of my stomach," he said. "Pain, excruciating pain. We were down at the pool when it hit, and I had to go up and just lay down and hold my stomach. It was on fire."

Martin said he spent the rest of his trip in the bathroom and went straight to the hospital following his vacation. Since returning to the U.S., he has been to the emergency room five times and lost a significant amount of weight.

"I told my wife we won’t go out of the country again," he said.

Although Martin said he is unsure of whether his experience has any links to the seven other suspicious deaths that have occurred in the past year, he did have advice for others who have thought about vacationing in the Dominican Republic.

"Don't go," he said. "Just don't go."