The death toll from this week’s powerful explosion in the Dominican Republic rose to 27 on Wednesday as firefighters continued efforts to extinguish the persistent fire set off by the blast, the national emergency director said.
Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the Centre of Emergency Operations, also said there were no longer any people believed missing. Earlier, authorities cited 10 missing but said that would change as forensic officials identified bodies found by search teams.
Firefighters still have not been able to fully put out the fires in a building where the explosion occurred Monday at a bakery in the city of San Cristobal, which lies just west of the capital of Santo Domingo.
Anguished friends and family have been pacing outside hospitals and morgues in anger and frustration, saying no one has been providing them information.
Meanwhile, authorities are probing what might have caused the explosion, vowing to crack down on any business that might not have been following regulations.
