Investigators Blame Arson in Puerto Rico Hotel Fire

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico —  Federal investigators have determined that arson was the cause of the New Year’s Eve fire that killed 96 people at the Dupont Plaza Hotel, the justice secretary said Sunday.

“We have concluded this was an arson, an incendiary fire, and we have to conclude also that we did not find evidence of (an) explosive device or bomb related with this fire,” Hector Rivera Cruz told reporters at a news conference on the hotel’s patio. “We have determined the point of origin of the fire and how it spread.”

But Rivera Cruz said a special team from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had not determined specifically how the fire was set.

Andrew Vita, supervisor of the Treasury Department team, said: “The sounds that we heard, the sounds that we were able to get from witnesses, are consistent with the movement of the fire without the presence of any explosive device.”

Rivera Cruz said investigators were now trying to determine whether chemicals caused the fire.

He refused to say who might have started the blaze at the hotel, where management has been embroiled in a bitter labor dispute with members of the Teamsters Union Local 901.

Union employees had voted to strike the Dupont Plaza at midnight the day of the fire after talks on a new contract broke off. And guests and others have said that the fire broke out in the hotel ballroom a few minutes after the employees took their strike vote and left.

But union officials have vehemently denied all suggestions of union involvement in the fire.

“We are not dismissing any person or any group,” Rivera Cruz said, adding that the investigation now will focus on “which person or how many persons participated in this crime.”

Despite the sketchiness of details, the official finding of arson moves the investigation onto a different legal plane. Sources with detailed knowledge of the investigation say it is being shaped by the possibility that homicide charges may be lodged against suspects in the future.

Rivera Cruz said he was clamping a tight lid on any findings to avoid tipping off possible defendants.

Bomb Threat Received

Puerto Rican police said they received a telephoned bomb threat against the hotel about two hours before the blaze, but that officers sent to investigate were turned away by the hotel’s security guards, who said all was normal at the Dupont Plaza.

Guests have reported hearing as many as three blasts during the blaze.

Bruce Shulman, hotel director of the Dupont Plaza, said: “Personally, I’m not surprised” arson was ruled the cause of the fire. He said he could not comment further on the announcement.

The Treasury Department team, along with FBI and local arson investigators, based their conclusion on an examination of physical evidence found at the 20-story hotel.

Evidence Sent to Lab

Some of the evidence will be shipped to the bureau’s offices in suburban Washington for testing to determine specifically what caused the fire, Rivera Cruz said.

More than 140 people suffered burns, smoke inhalation and injuries sustained when they jumped through windows and off balconies to escape the smoke and flames.

The investigation from the start focused on the possibility of arson. Gov. Rafael Hernandez Colon repeatedly cited the labor dispute as a possible criminal motivation, although he has not blamed anyone nor publicly disclosed any evidence that the blaze was set.

Ninety-four bodies, most of them charred beyond recognition, were recovered from the rubble of the hotel’s ground-floor ballroom, mezzanine-level casino and lower four floors. A St. Louis man died in a hospital emergency room the night of the blaze and a 96th victim died Sunday at Ashford Memorial Hospital, a spokesman for Hernandez Colon said.

Many From East Coast

Most of the 800 guests at the hotel were tourists from the United States, many from the East Coast.

More than 40 bodies were pulled from the debris on Friday, but no more were found during a final search Saturday.

Puerto Rico officials said the remains of 36 victims had been positively identified by Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, a U.S. Air Force cargo plane outfitted as a flying hospital took off on Sunday for treatment centers in the United States, carrying 18 people injured in the disaster and 20 relatives and friends.