A 46-year-old Italian mother-of-two who had starred in a television show about quitting everything to change her life died in a huge fire that tore through a luxury beach resort in the Dominican Republic, forcing nearly 1,700 guests to flee for their lives.
Francesca Valentino, a dance teacher from the southern Italian town of Caserta, was at the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach hotel in the popular resort town of Bayahibe when flames engulfed the complex early on Friday. The fire, which sent thick black smoke billowing across the coastline, spread quickly due to wind conditions and the flammable thatched roofs on some buildings, according to an initial investigation.
“Italian TV star Francesca Valentino, 46, died in a fire at a Dominican Republic resort that forced 1,700 to evacuate.”
Valentino, who was two months short of her 46th birthday, had appeared on the Sky Uno programme ‘Mollo Tutto e Cambio Vita’ (I’m quitting everything and changing my life), in which she announced she was relocating to Santo Domingo. She had since returned to Italy and was in Bayahibe on holiday. She had been married for ten years and leaves two children, aged four and ten.
The Italian ambassador to the Dominican Republic met Valentino’s husband at the hospital, Italian news agency Ansa reported. The embassy is helping around 285 Italian tourists who were staying at the resort or nearby, issuing emergency passports to those whose travel documents were destroyed and arranging flights home.
Three other people were taken to medical facilities and six were treated on site. The Dominican Republic’s Emergency Operations Center (COE) said the fire had been brought under control and guests were moved to other hotels, including the nearby sister property Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace, which was undamaged. Helicopters from the country’s air force helped tackle the blaze.
“Tourist activities in Bayahibe and the surrounding area remain unaffected and continue to take place safely and as normal,” the COE said in a statement. Director Juan Manuel Mendez added: “The causes that caused the fire remain under investigation, and it will be the relevant technical commission in charge of establishing them once the emergency and evaluation work on site are completed.”
The hotel, which charges about £350 a night and had recently undergone renovation, has been closed until further notice. In a letter to partners, it cancelled all bookings up to and including Sunday. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, which franchises about 8,400 hotels worldwide, said in a statement: “We are saddened that one guest perished.” The cause of the early-morning blaze remains unknown.