Another American Dies in the Dominican Republic

“It’s not true that there has been an avalanche of American tourists dying in our country, and it’s not true that we have mysterious deaths,” Dominican Republic Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia told reporters.

Vittorio Caruso, 56, owned a pizzeria in Long Island, N.Y., and was vacationing in the Boca Chica Resort in Santo Domingo when he ingested an unknown beverage and eventually went into respiratory distress and died June 17. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Caruso’s cause of death is unknown at this time.

This comes not long after the Dominican Republic’s tourism officials downplayed the deaths among American tourists as an exaggeration.

Caruso is among three tourists in the past month and at least 11 in the past year who died in the Dominican Republic. Dozens of other tourists have reported illnesses.

The FBI is now assisting with the tests of some of the Americans who have died in the Dominican Republic in the past year according to the U.S. Embassy there, which announced the FBI involvement in toxicology analysis. The test results could take up to 30 days.

The reports of deaths have many Americans wondering if they should plan on going to the tropical paradise.