The Foreign Office is scrambling to provide consular support after a British national was confirmed among the dead in a catastrophic fire at a luxury resort in the Dominican Republic. The blaze, which tore through the upscale complex in the early hours of Thursday morning, claimed multiple lives and left scores of tourists fleeing in their pyjamas.
Whitehall sources have told me that the Foreign Office's Rapid Deployment Team is en route to the Caribbean. Consular staff are liaising with Dominican authorities. It is a grim, familiar drill. The question now is how many more names are on the list.
This is a tragedy playing out in real time. The Foreign Office statement, issued just minutes ago, is pure boilerplate: 'We are providing support to the family of a British national who has died in the Dominican Republic.' But the Lobby is buzzing. Officials are tight-lipped about the number of UK citizens caught up in the disaster. Privately, they admit the scene is chaotic.
The fire apparently started in the resort's ground-floor nightclub. Local reports suggest faulty wiring. But we know how these investigations go. It will be weeks before the full picture emerges. In the meantime, the Foreign Office is doing what it does best: crisis management from a distance.
For the families back home, it is a waiting game. Consular staff are working through the night to identify the dead and injured. The Dominican authorities are not known for their speed. There will be questions later. For now, the focus is on the human cost.
This will dominate the Sunday papers. Expect calls for an inquiry into fire safety standards at overseas resorts. The travel industry will be nervous. But for one British family, their worst nightmare has just come true. The Foreign Office will offer support. But there is no consular fix for this kind of pain.
