New Delhi:

A Canadian man, whose wife and eight-year-old kid died from food poisoning during their stay at a Dominican Republic resort, is now suing the resort and its travel agency partners for $10 million, reported The New York Post.

Stephen Gougeon and his family members filed a statement of claim in Ontario Superior Court in Toronto on Monday, claiming that Wyndham Hotels and Resorts and Air Transat companies were negligent in the deaths of his wife April Gougeon, 41, and son Oliver Gougeon, 8, that took place on December 29, 2023.

The claim stated that the family of four, including their other son Wesley, travelled from Toronto to Viva Dominicus Beach by Wyndham Resort just after Christmas in December 2023. After eating dinner at the buffet, all four became violently ill. However, the family’s first call for medical help in their room was denied. 

“We were all throwing up,” father Stephen Gougeon told Canadian news outlet CTV.

The resort only sent help when it became clear that they “weren’t getting better,” Stephen said.

The following morning, the family was brought to a nearby hospital, where Ashley and Oliver began having trouble breathing. Soon after, they died from “secondary causes related to food poisoning.”

“They degraded and then my son passed away … and then very shortly after, my wife passed away,” Stephen Gougeon told CTV. 

He waited until the next day to share the news with his son Wesley, who was just 7 at the time, that he would never see his mother or older brother again.

The $10 million civil lawsuit, filed by Stephen Gougeon, claims that the resort failed to provide adequate emergency procedures and hygiene and failed to promptly address the family’s medical needs.

“When [the resort] finally responded after our further plea, there appeared to be confusion about how to handle the situation. These delays cost precious time that could have been used to treat our illness. And in the end, it cost my wife and my son their lives,” Stephen said in a statement.

A woman from Brooklyn, United States, who fell from a golf cart is suing Hard Rock Cafe & Hotel in the Dominican Republic for $500,000 (Rs 4 crore). Taylor O’Leary claimed in the complaint that she suffered several injuries after she fell out of her golf cart in July 2022 because the seat was wet and slippery, as per a report in the New York Post.

The incident happened at the Hard Rock Golf Club in Punta Cana. According to the lawsuit, the 27-year-old, who was a guest at the hotel, filed the complaint against the establishment and its corporate owner, Hard Rock Cafe International.

Celebrities like Justin Bieber, Shakira, and Mariah Carey are said to love this five-star luxury resort, which is located along Macao Beach.

Meanwhile, in June, a Disneyland employee died two days after suffering a head injury in a golf cart accident, as per a report in The Hollywood Reporter. The 60-year-old woman named Bonnye Mavis Lear was in the backstage area of the California theme park when the incident occurred.

Anaheim Police and Anaheim Fire and Rescue personnel arrived at the resort on Wednesday after they were informed about the accident. She was sitting as a passenger and struck her head after falling from the moving cart. The 60-year-old was then taken to a local hospital in grave condition.

The 60-year-old worked for 24 years at the Disneyland Resort, where she “supported membership services at Club 33,” the park’s exclusive private dining club.

Disney California Adventure Attractions cast member Rae Delgado, wrote on Facebook that Ms Lear suffered brain swelling and a fractured skull from the accident. “Bonnye was travelling on a rear-facing seat of a golf cart along with 3 passengers behind Critter Country. The driver of the vehicle was driving at least 20 mph on the route. The golf cart came in contact with a bump/dip in the road which caused Bonnye to react immediately. As she went to grab the handrail, it gave way and sent her out of the vehicle. … She was deemed unconscious when paramedics arrived.”

Despite the surgery, “it was beyond repair,” according to the employee, and Ms Lear was pronounced “brain dead”.

 

 

Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader was re-elected on May 19 for another four-year term, an endorsement of his handling of the economy and tough policies toward migration from Haiti.

The two nations share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, but the much more prosperous Dominican Republic stands in stark contrast to its poverty and gang violence-plagued neighbor.

The volatility across the border has been a key issue in the election campaign, but Mr. Abinader, 56, also boasted success in managing the economy and the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the number of ballots counted passed 21%, his main rival, former president Leonel Fernandez, conceded defeat and congratulated Mr. Abinader.

“I am and will be the president of all Dominicans,” Mr. Abinader said in a speech before hundreds of supporters at his campaign Headquarters in the capital Santo Domingo.

“The people have expressed themselves clearly… I accept the trust I have received and the obligation not to disappoint,” Mr. Abinader said shortly after his two top rivals, including Mr. Fernandez, threw in the towel.

“I will not fail them,” he told supporters, who chanted “Four more years! Four more years!”

With 25% of votes counted, Mr. Abinader was ahead with more than 59%, fully 30 points clear of Fernandez, with 27%. A win with more than 50% of the vote is required to avoid a runoff.

Mr. Abel Martinez was in third with 10.7%, while the other six candidates barely topped 3% of the total.

‘Things can improve’

Mr. Abinader is a U.S.-trained economist of Lebanese descent and multi-millionaire heir of a family tourism and construction empire.

He was elected during the Covid pandemic in 2020 on promises of restoring trust in the Government after several high-profile corruption scandals embroiling public officials in the top tourist destination.

Once in office, he began building a 164-kilometre (102-mile) concrete wall along the border with Haiti to keep out undocumented migrants.

He had more than 250,000 migrants deported in 2023.

The president enjoys domestic approval ratings of around 70% — more than when he was elected — despite international pressure for the Dominican Republic to welcome more refugees.

The migration issue has not been a divisive one in the election, with both Fernandez and Mr. Abinader backing the deportation of Haitian migrants and increased border security.

Since he came to power, Mr. Abinader has increased immigration raids and multiplied deportations, built a wall on part of the border, and closed migration from Haiti.

Voter Javier Taveras, 38, told AFP on election day that he “likes the current position of maintaining sovereignty,” though not “the abuse against our Haitian brothers.”

As for the border wall, “I don’t know how effective it is,” he said.

A Gallup poll showed 47.5% of Dominicans believe the country was “on the right path” and 40% believed the economy is doing better than before.

Maria Ramona Antonio, a 74-year-old dentist, said she believes Abinader has done well and voted for his re-election.

“Look how tourism is going, which is the best source of work for us… the roads built, those people in need who now have health insurance,” she told AFP in Santo Domingo.

Mr. Fernandez had accused the Government of manipulating growth data. The World Bank reports that the Dominican economy grew 2.5% in 2023.

“I hope for economic stability from the next government,” said voter Taveras.

Opinion polls also showed Mr. Abinader’s Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) bound for a majority in Congress. Experts agree that the party will fare well in elections for the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.

The party won 120 of 150 mayoral posts in February municipal elections, considered a litmus test ahead of the general vote.

“We are sweeping, we are on top,” voter Joney Dotel, a 38-year-old psychologist, said at the PRM Headquarters.

“The country continues with change, and it is in favor of democracy.”

Mr. Abinader rose to power on an anti-corruption platform. His minister of public works, Deligne Ascencion assured on May 19 that the elections were clean, despite complaints from opposition camps of vote-buying.

The country’s electoral commission reported it has not received any formal complaint of such irregularities.

An American woman travelling on American Airlines Flight 2790 from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, to Charlotte, North Carolina, tragically passed away after experiencing a sudden illness on the flight, according to The New York Post.

The 41-year-old passenger, identified by family members as an Indiana mother of two, became ill during the flight, prompting the crew to divert the plane to Providenciales International Airport in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Despite the crew’s efforts to revive the woman and the prompt response of medical personnel upon landing, she was pronounced dead at the local hospital. The Royal Turks and Caicos Island Police Force confirmed the incident and stated that a post-mortem examination will be conducted to determine the cause of death, according to the news outlet.

“A commercial flight was diverted to the Turks and Caicos this evening after a female passenger fell ill mid-flight. At 6:12 pm, the Police Control Room received a call from the Air Traffic Control Tower requesting medical assistance for a 41-year-old female, who at the time was receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR),” reads the Facebook post.

While the official identification of the dead is pending, a woman on Facebook also identified the passenger as her sister-in-law.

“We are in disbelief, and our hearts are broken,” Stephanie Quinn wrote in response to the Royal Turks and Caicos Island Police Force’s announcement.

Quinn described her sister-in-law as the only girl out of five siblings and the mother of two “beautiful children with big hearts and straight as.”

“She is still down there, so please take good care of her as she ventures home,” pleaded Quinn, who did not immediately respond to messages Friday.