Firefighters struggling to extinguish a blaze caused by a deadly explosion near the Dominican Republic’s capital this week found two more bodies Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 13, authorities said.
The number of victims is expected to increase since responders have not been able to fully access the 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.
Jaissy Capellán, press coordinator for the Emergency Operations Center, told The Associated Press that the two additional bodies were pulled from the rubble early Wednesday.
Meanwhile, authorities are probing what might have caused the explosion, vowing to crack down on any business that might not have been following regulations.
Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the Emergency Operations Center, said at a news conference late Wednesday that if an unidentified factory was operating illegally as some residents have alleged, the investigation would shed light on that.
“If there is some type of culpability or not, the investigation will determine that,” he said. “We will take legal action.”
At least 59 people were injured in the blast, which occurred in a bustling commercial area in the city’s center and destroyed four buildings and damaged nine others. More than 30 people remain hospitalized with conditions including fractures, burns and respiratory problems. Two firefighters also were treated for smoke inhalation.
More than 30 ambulances and some 500 personnel including rescuers and officials responded to the incident.
Toxic smoke still hovered over the explosion site, with health officials urging people to wear face masks.
San Cristobal, the birthplace of dictator Rafael Trujillo, was the site of another explosion nearly 23 years ago. An arms depot exploded in October 2000, killing at least two people and injured more than two dozen others, forcing authorities to evacuate thousands.
Associated Press reporter Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.
New York City’s tourism industry has seen a bumpy recovery from the pandemic, as the omicron surge delivers yet another blow to one of the world’s top tourist destinations. The arts and entertainment sector has been one of the hardest hit, with Broadway shows canceling performances once again after an industry-wide shutdown. Chris Heywood, executive vice president of global communications at NYC & Company, joined Cheddar's Fast Forward to talk about why he's confident the theater district - and the rest of the city - will eventually return to its pre-pandemic glory.
More than 70 religious leaders have come together to sign a letter to urge Mark Zuckerberg and Meta to halt plans for Instagram for Kids. The signers claim that this new platform, currently on pause, could cause spiritual harm to young people. Lucy Kidwell, the screen-free week coordinator for the nonprofit that organized the letter, Fairplay, joined Cheddar News to discuss the issue on Safer Internet Day. "It's not necessarily the content, even, that's on these platforms, but more the structure of the app itself," she said. "It's all focused on comparison, promoting yourself, putting forward this image of perfection and this beautiful life that's really harmful to kids who can't really separate what's real and what's fake and who may not be emotionally mature enough to handle something so complicated."
Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama are set to begin voting to unionize for a second time after workers at the facility in the town of Bessemer overwhelmingly voted against forming a union during an election early last year; but in November, the National Labor Relations Board overturned the vote, upholding a union challenge of the results which argued that Amazon undermined the conditions for a fair election. Another round of ballots will now be mailed out to works at the warehouse for a so-called re-run election. Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University John Logan and National Field Director for Our Revolution Mike Oles joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
David Daley, author of the book 'Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy,' joins Cheddar News to discuss redistricting battles taking place across the U.S.
Neil Young urged Spotify employees to leave their jobs in his latest salvo against the platform and its CEO Daniel Ek for hosting "The Joe Rogan Experience." The call for resignations also came after a video compilation of Rogan using the n-word on his podcast was made public.
Jeff Zucker has resigned as CNN's president, writing in a memo he failed to disclose a romantic relationship with a colleague. Zucker admitted to the relationship, which he described as consensual, during the investigation into former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo's behavior. Seth Schachner, managing director of StratAmericas, joined Cheddar to discuss where does this abrupt resignation leaves the network.
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals, Dr. Ashley Farmer, Historian, Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin & Author of "Remaking Black Power: How Black Women Transformed an Era", shines a spotlight on some of the women overlooked by history that had a profound influence on the American Civil Rights and Black Power Movements.
Katie Rainge-Briggs, Exhibition and Collections Manager, National Museum of African American Music, explores the deep influence of Black music and musicians on modern American Culture; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Beyond the Spotlight'.
