SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Dominican authorities introduced late Friday that they’re pursuing a prison case in opposition to a plastics firm primarily based on proof discovered throughout an investigation into a robust explosion this week that killed a minimum of 31 folks.
Police and the Public Ministry issued a joint assertion saying the blast occurred at a enterprise referred to as Vidal Plast, reasonably than at a bakery as authorities had mentioned initially. The explosion occurred Monday afternoon in a bustling industrial heart in San Cristobal, a metropolis simply west of the capital of Santo Domingo.
“The Public Ministry has evidence that compromises the criminal responsibility of those responsible who, with their actions, caused the death of dozens of people and caused millions in losses,” the assertion mentioned, citing prosecutor Fadulia Rosa Rubio.
The ministry mentioned it was investigating a number of folks, however didn’t determine them.
The homeowners of Vidal Plast couldn’t be instantly reached for remark. The firm recycles, buys and sells plastic supplies, officers mentioned.
Authorities additionally mentioned they’ve proof that there was a hearth on the enterprise in March attributable to a spark and a chemical substance and that the corporate didn’t take any measures “despite knowing the high risk of its operations.”
Víctor Bisonó, the minister of business and commerce, instructed reporters that the municipality had closed the manufacturing facility prior to now, however he didn’t present extra particulars.
N Digital, a revered on-line newspaper within the Dominican Republic, reported that the corporate was based in 2003. It quoted one of many firm’s founders as saying that the manufacturing facility was not working and that two of its staff have been merely eradicating materials from the location when the explosion occurred, with one in all then being killed.
Officials on Friday additionally raised the variety of useless to 31 from 28. They mentioned seven of the useless had been recognized to date. On Thursday, the federal government mentioned it might take as much as three months to determine all these killed within the blast.
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