{"id":5119,"date":"2026-06-20T18:01:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T18:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119"},"modified":"2026-06-20T18:01:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T18:01:08","slug":"at-least-one-tourist-dead-after-massive-fire-nearly-destroys-caribbean-resort-1690-evacuated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119","title":{"rendered":"At least one tourist dead after massive fire nearly destroys Caribbean resort, 1,690 evacuated"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><div><div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Aerial view of flames consume resort\" class=\"wp-image-5116\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f4b0184c52f1ecb771ac6f1e61d6c41b.webp\" width=\"764\" srcset=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f4b0184c52f1ecb771ac6f1e61d6c41b.webp 764w, https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f4b0184c52f1ecb771ac6f1e61d6c41b-300x170.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 764px) 100vw, 764px\" \/><\/figure>\n <span>article<\/span><\/div> <div><div><p><span>A drone view shows a fire at the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach Hotel in Bayahibe, La Altagracia, Dominican Republic, June 19, 2026 in this screen grab obtained from social media video. (Gojko Culibrk\/via REUTERS)<\/span> <!-- --><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5114\">Hobby, Bush Airports under ground stop due to storms<\/a><\/p> <!-- --><\/div><\/div> <!-- --><\/div> <!-- --><p>At least one Italian tourist is dead with several more injured after a massive fire in the <u>Dominican Republic<\/u> resort town Bayahibe on Friday.<\/p> <!-- --><p>The deceased woman, 46-year-old Italian national Francesca Valentino, died at the resort&#8217;s Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach Hotel, according to the Dominican Republic&#8217;s Directorate of Out-of-Hospital Emergency Services (DAEH).<\/p> <p>At least nine other people were treated for injuries, with three of those taken to off-site medical facilities, DAEH said in a statement.<\/p> <!-- --><p>Authorities evacuated 1,690 tourists from the popular resort town, The Associated Press reported, citing local authorities.<\/p> <!-- --><div><\/div> <!-- --><p><strong><u>AT LEAST 18 DEAD, 120 INJURED IN ROOF COLLAPSE AT DOMINICAN REPUBLIC NIGHTCLUB<\/u><\/strong><\/p> <!-- --><div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Aerial view of flames consuming resort\" class=\"wp-image-5117\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2af739db6d43783a27cbfe8c3ee235b8-768x432.webp\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2af739db6d43783a27cbfe8c3ee235b8-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2af739db6d43783a27cbfe8c3ee235b8-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2af739db6d43783a27cbfe8c3ee235b8.webp 932w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n <div><p><span>A drone view shows a fire at the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach Hotel in Bayahibe, La Altagracia, Dominican Republic, June 19, 2026 in this screen grab obtained from social media video. (Gojko Culibrk\/via REUTERS)<\/span> <!-- --><\/p> <!-- --><\/div><\/div> <!-- --><p>Aerial video of the <u>blaze<\/u> showed smoke billowing from numerous beachside buildings, with large gray plumes of smoke casting dark shadows on the beach&#8217;s turquoise waters.<\/p> <!-- --><p><strong><u>RESIDENTS WAKE UP SCREAMING AS COPS RACE TO RESCUE THEM FROM LATE-NIGHT APARTMENT BLAZE: VIDEO<\/u><\/strong><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5111\">Power Plate Meals frozen meatloaf recalled due to misbranding and an undeclared allergen<\/a><\/p> <!-- --><p>Authorities reported that &#8220;preliminary observations indicate that the fire spread rapidly due to the flammable nature \u200bof parts of the roof structures made of palm, as \u200bwell as wind conditions,&#8221; <u>according to Reuters<\/u>.<\/p> <!-- --><p>Guests were moved to other <u>hotels<\/u>, such as the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace, a nearby hotel run by the same operators as the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach Hotel. The Palace did not sustain any damage, according to Reuters.<\/p> <!-- --><div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Two police officers in front of resort\" class=\"wp-image-5118\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d2ace5b9d689be46a2103517cb3eaa18-768x432.webp\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d2ace5b9d689be46a2103517cb3eaa18-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d2ace5b9d689be46a2103517cb3eaa18-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d2ace5b9d689be46a2103517cb3eaa18.webp 932w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n <div><p><span>Police officers operate following a fire at a Viva Dominicus resort in Bayahibe, La Altagracia, Dominican Republic, June 19, 2026, in this still taken from a social media video. (Junito Mieses\/via REUTERS)<\/span> <!-- --><\/p> <!-- --><\/div><\/div> <!-- --><p>&#8220;Tourist activities \u200bin Bayahibe and the surrounding area remain unaffected \u200band \u2060continue to take place safely and as normal,&#8221; the Dominican Republic&#8217;s Emergency Operations Center (COE) also noted.<\/p> <!-- --><p>Video of the aftermath shows a drone spraying water on a charred and destroyed block of buildings as the structures continue to smolder.<\/p> <!-- --><p>Fox News Digital contacted DAEH, COE and Wyndham Hotels and <u>Resorts<\/u> for additional comment.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5108\">Harris Co. deputies investigating after 2 found dead at body shop<\/a><\/p> <!-- --><p><i>The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p> <!-- --> <!-- --> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At least one Italian tourist is dead with several more injured after a massive fire in the Dominican Republic resort town Bayahibe on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","category-world"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>At least one tourist dead after massive fire nearly destroys Caribbean resort, 1,690 evacuated - Houston Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"At least one tourist dead after massive fire nearly destroys Caribbean resort, 1,690 evacuated - Houston Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At least one Italian tourist is dead with several more injured after a massive fire in the Dominican Republic resort town Bayahibe on Friday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Houston Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-20T18:01:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f4b0184c52f1ecb771ac6f1e61d6c41b.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"764\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5119#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5119\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba\"},\"headline\":\"At least one tourist dead after massive fire nearly destroys Caribbean resort, 1,690 evacuated\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T18:01:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5119\"},\"wordCount\":438,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5119#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/78312cd64eb8a98bdeb94360dd0a107d.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Travel\",\"World\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5119#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5119\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5119\",\"name\":\"At least one tourist dead after massive fire nearly destroys Caribbean resort, 1,690 evacuated - Houston Moving Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5119#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5119#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/78312cd64eb8a98bdeb94360dd0a107d.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T18:01:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5119#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5119\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5119#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/78312cd64eb8a98bdeb94360dd0a107d.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/78312cd64eb8a98bdeb94360dd0a107d.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5119#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"At least one tourist dead after massive fire nearly destroys Caribbean resort, 1,690 evacuated\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Houston Moving Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"At least one tourist dead after massive fire nearly destroys Caribbean resort, 1,690 evacuated - Houston Moving Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"At least one tourist dead after massive fire nearly destroys Caribbean resort, 1,690 evacuated - Houston Moving Journal","og_description":"At least one Italian tourist is dead with several more injured after a massive fire in the Dominican Republic resort town Bayahibe on Friday.","og_url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119","og_site_name":"Houston Moving Journal","article_published_time":"2026-06-20T18:01:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":764,"height":432,"url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f4b0184c52f1ecb771ac6f1e61d6c41b.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba"},"headline":"At least one tourist dead after massive fire nearly destroys Caribbean resort, 1,690 evacuated","datePublished":"2026-06-20T18:01:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119"},"wordCount":438,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/78312cd64eb8a98bdeb94360dd0a107d.webp","articleSection":["Travel","World"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119","url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119","name":"At least one tourist dead after massive fire nearly destroys Caribbean resort, 1,690 evacuated - Houston Moving Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/78312cd64eb8a98bdeb94360dd0a107d.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-20T18:01:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/78312cd64eb8a98bdeb94360dd0a107d.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/78312cd64eb8a98bdeb94360dd0a107d.webp","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5119#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"At least one tourist dead after massive fire nearly destroys Caribbean resort, 1,690 evacuated"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/","name":"Houston Moving Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}