A New York man is the 10th American tourist who has died while vacationing in the Dominican Republic in recent months.
Vittorio Caruso, 56, of Glen Cove, Long Island, experienced respiratory distress and an apparent heart attack while on vacation there earlier this month, News 12 reported Sunday.
Caruso died on June 17, his sister-in-law, Lisa Marie Caruso, told the station. He was celebrating his retirement after he sold a Glen Cove pizza shop he had operated with his brother for 12 years.
She said the family received a phone call that Vittorio was sick. Moments later, they got a second phone call saying he had died.
Caruso died in a hospital in Santo Domingo, CNN reported. Local authorities said the cause was respiratory failure.
Caruso’s death has similarities to several others that have occurred in vacation resorts in the Dominican Republic over the last year. A number of American tourists have died of respiratory failure or heart attacks. Surviving family members report the deaths were sudden. Several occurred after having an alcoholic drink, sometimes from a hotel minibar.
The FBI is investigating the deaths and is helping local authorities with toxicology tests in at least three cases, CNN reported Sunday.
Authorities are looking into whether tainted bootleg alcohol is responsible for the deaths, the New York Post reported on June 13.
Several visitors to Dominican Republic resorts have reported falling ill, but survived. Some said they did not drink alcohol during their stay.
Former Bachelor star Melissa Rycroft has had “major stomach issues since returning from the Dominican Republic” where she was vacationing with her family, Rycroft’s representatives told “Page Six” last week. According to Business Insider, more than 1,600 people have reported suspected poisonings in the country this year on the popular food-safety site IWasPoisoned.com. That’s up from 10 reports in 2018. More than 700 reports specifically mentioned the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Punta Cana.
On Sunday, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino announced that it would remove liquor dispensers from guest room minibars. The general manager told CNN the decision was made independently to “provide more tranquility for guests” and was not related to two deaths that happened there.
