One dead, several injured in massive fire at Dominican Republic luxury resort

On a Friday afternoon in the Dominican Republic, fire consumed a luxury beachfront resort, killing one person and injuring several others in a place where guests had come seeking rest and ease. The blaze, described as massive by those who responded, reminds us that the veneer of comfort and modernity offers no guarantee against the oldest and most indiscriminate of disasters. In a nation whose identity and economy are deeply woven into the promise of paradise, such an event asks hard questions about the distance between the appearance of safety and its substance.