(Daily Star) – At least nine tourists have died in the tropical paradise of the Dominican Republic over the past year – sparking fears that illegally-sold alcohol is finding its way into hotel minibars. Joseph Allen is the most recent victim of the mysterious spike in fatalities. He was found dead in his room at the Terra Linda hotel in Sosua on June 13. The 55-year-old’s sister, Jamie Reed, told ABC that he died while he was on a trip to the beautiful Caribbean isle to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Mr. Allen told his traveling
companions that he felt unwell while swimming in the hotel’s pool and went up to his room to rest. When staff checked in on him the following day, they found him dead. A similar unexplained death the previous week, that of 53-year-old Leyla Cox, has been described as “an isolated incident” by the republic’s Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia. Cynthia Day, Miranda Schaup-Werner and Nathaniel Holmes all died in May. Robert Bell Wallace and John Corcoran both died in April, and David Harrison and Yvette Monique Sport both died in as yet unexplained circumstances last summer. READ MORE
