Panicked guests at a fire-ravaged Dominican Republic resort tried to rush back into the burning property to retrieve their belongings, according to a hotel employee who witnessed the chaos unfold.
“Nothing is more valuable than your life,” hotel staff member Sara Calabria, 27, told the Daily Mail.
“No object, no material possession,” she said.
Images and videos Calabria posted on social media show flames tearing through thatched roofs and multiple structures at Wyndham’s Viva Dominicus resort in Bayahibe, a fishing village in the Dominican Republic’s Altagracia province.
As the fire rapidly spread, guests and employees could be seen scrambling in different directions amid the confusion.
“I saw people wanting to go back to their rooms to get their bags asking if it was possible,” Calabria recalled.
“Don’t risk everything for nothing,” she added.
Calabria said she is devastated by the destruction of the place she considered both her home and her source of work.
“It pains me to see what has been my workplace, but also my second home, destroyed,” said Calabria
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“It hurts to see my office reduced to ashes.”
Calabria is the sister of famous Italian soccer player Davide Calabria, who played for AC Milan and now plays in Greece.
The massive, out-of-control fire killed one person and forced the evacuation of 1,700 people on Friday.
The deceased, 46-year-old Italian national Francesca Valentino, was visiting family in the Dominican Republic before her tragic death.
Authorities say that weather conditions and flammable building materials are to blame.
“Preliminary observations indicate that the fire spread rapidly due to the flammable nature of parts of the roof structures made of palm, as well as wind conditions,” the Dominican Emergency Operations Center (COE) said.
“Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach Hotel experienced a fire yesterday,” said Wyndham in a statement.
“The Emergency Operations Center (COE) in conjunction with various regional fire departments contained the fire,” the statement continued.
“Hotel teams safely evacuated guests and staff. However, we are saddened that one guest perished, and we send our thoughts to the family while we await autopsy results to determine the cause.”
“At this time the hotel, which is independently owned and operated, is closed and will remain so until further notice.”
