Seven named dead in Polyplas tragic blast in Santo Domingo
The Attorney General has revealed the names of five of seven persons who are known to have perished in the Polyplas plastics factory blast in Villas Agrícolas in northern National District on Wednesday, 5 December. The victims are: 46-year old Claudio Hernandez Jimenez; 49-year old Julio Salazar Mejia; 31 year old Ronny Vargas; 44 year old Jose Alberto Encarnación and 49-year old Manuel Esteban Rosario Ramírez, a contractor for the company. Of these, four worked in the company, and one was a contractor, as reported in Diario Libre. The National Institute of Forensic Sciences is working to identify the corpses of two women that could be Rosa Melia Núñez and Maria Altagracia Garabito, both Polyplas employees who are missing.
Kelvin Garabito, brother of 28-year old Polyplas employee María Altagracia Garabito, has not been able to locate his sister. The woman appears in a YouTube video she filmed shortly before the explosion. He fears the worst.
98% of the employees were evacuated before the blast, said corporate affairs director Alvaro Sousa. One of the dead, Encarnación, reportedly died after he re-entered the factory to rescue a woman and was caught in the blast.
In an update on the tragedy, the director of the National Health Service (SNS) Chanel Rosa Chupany said that of 66 persons who received medical attention of hospitals, 43 have been discharged. Two of those remaining in the hospital suffered critical burns.
The rescue authorities announced on Saturday, 8 December 2018, that they would continue efforts to search the blast site until everyone had been located. The recovery teams are now using heavy machinery to lift the rubble as dozens of person watch and carry out vigils under the watchful eye of military and police personnel stationed in a cordon around the area. According to plant officials, there were some 288 person employed at the facility.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Works announced it is assisting with the repair of at least 63 homes in nearby neighborhoods that were affected by the explosion. The Ministry of Education said they are working so that the two public schools in the area can resume classes on Wednesday, 12 December. The Ministry of Public Health contracted the Instituto de la Familia (Idefa) and Centro para el Desarrollo y la Interaccion Constructiva (Cedic) to offer psychological counseling to the community.
In a paid advertisement published in national media on Monday, 10 December 2018, Polyplas explains that the natural gas escape that caused the explosion occurred when a tanker-truck from their supplier Propagas suffered a leakage at around 11:23am. Safety protocols were enacted at 11:27 am. The company is awaiting the report by experts on the accident.
The explosion comes 15 years after a propane gas explosion at a propane facility at Calle Pedro Livio Cedeño corner Moca in Villas Agricolas resulted in burns affecting 20 persons. The Villas Agricolas is an old time industrial area that today is mixed use.
UPDATE: Five days after the Wednesday, 5 December 2018, tragic explosion at the Polyplas plastics factory in Villas Agrícolas, Distrito Nacional, the director of the Center for Emergency Operations, Juan Manuel Mendez announced rescue operations had concluded after no more missing persons had been reported related to the explosion. The toll of the accident is eight dead, 103 injured and 25 families affected. Efforts are now concentrated at the site on the removal of debris and cleanup.
Three more of the injured are hospitalized at the Ney Arias Lora burn unit, with serious burns at 50% of their bodies. The Ministry of Public Works is assisting 63 houses in the neighborhood that were affected by the explosion.
The deceased have been identified as: 55 years old Rafael Contreras Báez; 46-year old Claudio Hernandez Jimenez; 49-year old Julio Salazar Mejia; 31 year old Ronny Vargas; 44 year old Jose Alberto Encarnación; 49-year old Manuel Esteban Rosario Ramírez, a contractor for the company. The National Institute of Forensic Sciences is working to identify the corpses of two women that could be Rosa Melia Núñez and Maria Altagracia Garabito, both Polyplas employees who are missing.
The Fire Department issued their preliminary report on the accident establishing the explosion originated in the natural gas escape at the time when the fuel was fed from a Propagas tanker truck to the main tank of the factory. The report states: “It is presumed by the statements of the operator that when he realized the leak he tried to stop it but it was too late”. The truck operator, Jimmy Gutiérrez, told firefighters that the gas leak disoriented him and the burns he received “restricted his movements delaying his shutting off the emergency valve of the truck’s tank.
It is reported that Gutiérrez asked the Polyplas staff to “turn everything off”, but he says he was told by the security of the company that they could not do so “because the whole system would be shut down.” The report of the Fire Department states that it could not verify if the company had leak detection devices. Nor was it possible to verify if the emergency alarms worked.
Source: DR1, Elcaribe, Hoy
Dec 11, 2018
Category: DR News |