A family from Virginia reportedly became violently ill while on a vacation to the Dominican Republic, after eating at the same hotel where members of a graduation trip were also sickened.
Amy Burbach Jensen of Fairfax told the New York Post that her family of eight traveled to the Dominican Republic for a vacation on June 9 to celebrate her son Ben’s high school graduation and enjoy some time together before Ben leaves for West Point next month.
“We thought it would be nice to have a little vacation because he’ll be in the military and we don’t know when we’ll have opportunities,” Jensen said.
But it was not to be. On the third night of the trip, Jensen said that five or her family members became ill after eating at a steakhouse at the Hard Rock Hotel and Resort in Punta Cana. With Ben suffering the most severe symptoms, including vomiting, those who became ill had stomachaches and diarrhea hours after the meal.
“[Ben] was so sick that he was curling on the floor and just laid on the shower. He was afraid to move,” Jensen told the newspaper.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, several members of a group on a graduation trip comprised of students and parents from Oklahoma became violently ill after a meal at a Japanese restaurant at the same hotel. The Hard Rock in Punta Cana is also where at least two Americans were found dead under mysterious circumstances in the last year.
According to the account Jensen gave the New York Post, the hotel staff was not accommodating of her family’s illness, and even tried to charge them a cancellation fee when they chose to depart a day early.
“I don’t get the feeling that Hard Rock is taking it seriously,” Jensen told the newspaper.
“In my opinion, they should shut down that hotel and figure out what’s going down.”
