The slow buildup of methane gas and inadequate ventilation may have led to a catastrophic explosion at a plastics recycling facility in the Dominican Republic, according to a preliminary report by the city's fire department.
Thirty-three people lost their lives and many others were injured in the Aug. 14 blast and fire in downtown San Cristóbal. Authorities in the Caribbean nation say it occurred on the premises of a recycling company called Vidal Plast.
The number of fatalities has risen gradually over the days since the explosion.
The Caribbean island's main crime-fighting bodies, the Ministerio Público and Policia Nacional, have implicated Vidal Plast and said that "several people," whom they have not named, are under investigation.
According to the Diario Libre news website, police raided the home of Vidal Plast's alleged owners in San Cristóbal at 4 a.m. on Aug. 30 and detained several people.
Diario Libre identified those taken to a nearby police station as Maribel and Edward Vidal and their daughter, whom it did not name.
Plastics News could not immediately confirm the report.
Fadulia Rosa Rubio, San Cristóbal's chief prosecutor, has described the explosion as a tragedy and said the Ministerio Público had evidence of "criminal irresponsibility" that had "caused the deaths of dozens of people and provoked [economic] losses running into millions."