Hotel fire pronounced arson

Press, 6 January 1987, Page 8

Hotel fire pronounced arson

NZPA-Reuter San Juan, Puerto Rico

Investigators have concluded that a hotel fire that killed 96 people in San Juan on New Year’s Eve was caused by arson, but there was no evidence that the blaze was started by a bomb or other incendiary device.

Investigators announced their findings at a news conference yesterday beside the charred exterior wall of the Dupont Plaza Hotel’s gutted casino. The Governor’s press secretary, Danny Velez, said the death toll rose to 96 as an American man died of bums suffered in

the fire, which turned the casino into an inferno.

Some patrons died where they sat at gaming tables; hundred of others fled, some jumping from windows and others climbing to the roof of the 22-storey luxury hotel, from where they were plucked by helicopters. The findings were announced by the Puerto Rican Attorney-General, Hector Rivera Cruz. Mr Rivera said investigators were sure that the blaze was deliberately set, but had been unable to find traces of a bomb or other incendiary device, or to pinpoint blame.

that this was an incendi-

ary fire. But we have to conclude, also, that we did not find evidence of an explosive device or bomb,” Mr Rivera said.

Investigators will continue trying to establish “the responsibility for this crime on any group involved in hotel operations,” Mr Rivera said, but added that there were no suspects yet. There has been intense speculation that friction between hotel management and employees, who were members of the Teamster’s union may have been the motivation for setting the blaze.

Guests at the hotel have spoken of warnings fScjm

employees that they should leave the Dupont Plaza because of the tensions, but union officials have strongly denied that their members were involved.

The police said they received a threat that a bomb was set to explode at the hotel about two hours before the fire started.

But Jose Luis Lopez, a police spokesman, said yesterday that hotel management declined to let the police search the hotel, and the hotel’s reservations manager, Edwin Santiago, had told the police: “Everything is under control here." Governor Rafael Her-

nandez Colon had no immediate comment on the investigation, but stood by previous statements that the arson “could have come from either side.” The Governor was referring to suggestions that the fire may have been set either by union members or by the hotel’s own security guards.

Some 119 people were injured in the blaze, with 19 of them still in hospitals. Of the 96 dead, 41 have been identified.

A United States military transport plane yesterday flew eight of the injured to New Haven, Connecticut, jfor further treatment

Andrew Vita, a supervisor of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, a United States agency which assisted in the arson investigation, said that chemical samples from the blaze were being sent to a laboratory in Rockville, Maryland. Investigators hope that an analysis of the samples will allow them to find those responsible for the fire.

The investigators were reluctant to provide other details of their findings, saying they did not want to jeopardise the criminal investigation.

Puerto Rico is a United States territory.