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Cops ‘probing whether bootleg alcohol killed eight US Tourists, Dominican Rep.
POLICE are investigating into whether bootleg alcohol is to blame for killing eight American tourists in Dominican Republic resorts, it has been reported.
Cops want to know who supplied the booze that went into the alcoholic beverages all victims drank and if they contained any dangerous chemicals.
The FBI is getting involved and will be taking blood samples from the victims to its research centre in Quantico, Virginia, a source told the New York Post.
Francisco Javier García, the Dominican Republic’s tourism minister, has insisted the fatalities are “isolated incidents”.
The reps for two of the resorts where the victims have died, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and Bahia Principe, say the deaths are accidents.
There are similarities between most of the deaths as the victims were healthy adults and some of them drank from their hotel minibar before falling ill.
Some of the symptoms they had included nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, which one expert claims is similar with poisoning from pesticides of methanol.
Methanol is a type of alcohol that is not safe for human consumption.
Lawrence Kobilinsky, a forensic science professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, said: “Adulterated alcohol is usually methanol added to alcohol or just plain methanol, which is very, very toxic.
“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.
“There should be no methanol at all. If it’s there, it means it’s been adulterated or put there deliberately.”
'POSSIBLE POISONING'
The Dominican Ministry of Public Health is still waiting for the test results after health inspectors tested the pool, air conditioning units, food areas and alcohol where three tourists died at two Bahia Principe resorts.
It comes as a 53-year-old woman from Staten Island, New York became the eighth American tourist to die after being found dead in her Dominican Republic hotel room.
Leyla Cox, flew to the paradise Caribbean island on June 5 to celebrate her birthday where she was meant to spent a week before coming back to New York.
William Cox, her son, said she was found dead in her hotel room on Monday, just one day after her birthday.
Mr Cox said he was suspicious after his mum’s death was ruled a heart attack.
He told the Staten Island Advance: “I am overwhelmed and confused and in shock. I have a right to be suspicious.”
Mr Cox said he begged his mum not to go on holiday to the island after a spate of deaths in the country.
He said: “My family wanted her to not go on this vacation.
“I truly believe if my mother was not in the Dominican Republic, she would have been alive right now.”
“With everything going on in the news right now, we think she’s a casualty of what’s been happening.”
I truly believe if my mother was not in the Dominican Republic, she would have been alive right now
William, Leyla Cox's Son
It is unclear what resort she was the staying at.
Yesterday it was revealed that the brother of TV star Barbara Corcoran was found dead in a Dominican Republic hotel room.
Property mogul Barbara, 70, who appears on America's version of Dragons Den, revealed her 60-year-old brother John died from a sudden heart attack while on holiday with a pal in April.
It comes after six US tourists died in mysterious circumstances on the Caribbean island in the past year.
Speaking with TMZ on Tuesday, Shark Tank star Barbara said her brother’s friend discovered his lifeless body on the floor of their suite.
But a post-mortem examination has never revealed his cause of death.
It is unclear which hotel John was staying in at the time.
A recent spate of mysterious and sudden deaths of American tourists at resorts in the Dominican Republic has raised concerns that the deaths may not be coincidental.
The tourists died after drinking from the minibar at two luxury resorts on the Caribbean island.
Robert Bell Wallace, 67, became sick and "urinated blood" after he had one whisky from his room minibar at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana.
He was visiting the country for his step-son's wedding.
American David Harrison, 45, of Maryland, died in July last year at the same Hard Rock Hotel resort after a sudden heart attack.
His heartbroken widow Dawn McCoy said her husband was mumbling inanely and complained of a "very potent, strange smell".
We have so many questions ... We don’t want this to happen to anyone else
Chloe Arnold, Niece Of Robert Bell Wallace
Miranda Schaup-Werner, 41, collapsed died in her room after having a drink from her minibar at the Luxury Bahia Principe Bouganville in La Romana, 70 miles west of Punta Cana
Five days later, Edward Holmes, 63, and Cynthia Day, 49, were found dead in their room at the neighbouring Grand Bahia Principe resort.
And it has since emerged Yvette Monique Short, 51, passed away she had a drink from the minibar.
It wasn’t clear if Mr Holmes and Ms Day drank from the minibar, and their deaths were attributed by officials to respiratory failure.
Dominican officials said Mr Schaup-Werner suffered a heart attack, but her brother-in-law, Jay McDonald, insisted she died of respiratory failure and had drunk from the bar.
Timeline of deaths
June 2018: Yvette Monique Sport, 51, of Glenside, Pennsylvania, dies after drinking from the minibar at at a Bahia Principe hotel in Punta Cana
July 2018: David Harrison dies while on vacation at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Punta Cana
April 2019: John Corcoran, brother of US TV star Barbara, dies from heart attack
April 14: Robert Bell Wallace, 67, of California in hospital four days after falling ill
May 25: Miranda Schaup-Werner, 41, of Pennsylvannia, dies within hours of consuming a drink from a resort minibar at Bahia Principe Hotel in La Romana
May 30: Cynthia Day, 49, and Nathaniel Holmes, 63, of Maryland, are found dead in their hotel rooms
June 10: Leyla Cox, 53, of Staten Island, New York, is found dead in her hotel room
Dominican authorities said post-mortem examinations revealed all six died of natural causes.
The families of at least three people who died on the island last month were told that their loved ones died from pulmonary edema and respiratory failure.
Other victims were said to have died of heart attacks.
A total of 30 million tourists have visited the island in the past five years, including 2.7 million Americans every year.
Authorities from both the US and the Dominican Republic are currently on the ground investigating the deaths amid fears the tourists may have been poisoned.
“We are deeply saddened by the incident at one of our hotels in La Romana, Dominican Republic, and want to express our deepest condolences to their family and friends,” Bahia Principe Hotel said in a statement after a Maryland couple was found dead in their hotel room at the end of May.
The US State Department told Fox News: “We can confirm the death of a US citizen in April 2019 in the Dominican Republic.
“We offer our sincerest condolences to the family for their loss.
“Out of respect for the family during this difficult time, we do not have additional information to provide.”
The resort apologised and offered her and her boyfriend a meal and a massage, according to reports.
In a statement on the Grupo Pinero website the company that owns the hotel said: “In regards to the two unfortunate events that took place in the Dominican Republic, and after inaccurate and false information has been spread, Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts would like to express our deep respect to the authorities and the ongoing investigations.
“We reiterate our firm commitment to collaborating completely with the authorities and hope for a prompt resolution of their inquiries and actions and will not be making any further statements that may interfere with them.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/929394...otleg-alcohol/
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Originally Posted by SilverKnight
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