A powerful explosion, the cause of which is still unknown, in a commercial district of the city of San Cristóbal, in the southern part of the Dominican Republic, has killed 11 people, including an infant, injured 59 others and left about ten missing, according to latest account of the authorities made public yesterday Tuesday.

The explosion rocked the commercial district of the city, capital of the province of the same name, on Monday at around 15:10 local time. It caused a fire and a huge column of smoke.

The health authorities spoke of at least 11 dead and 59 injured.

“We have 11 (identified bodies), but there are more,” explained emergency center director Juan Manuel Mendes. “We need to ascertain” whether the recovered bones “belong to just one or more bodies,” he added.

Yesterday Tuesday firefighters were still trying to put out the fire, an AFP reporter found. According to Mr. Mendes, there were still “four outbreaks” active.

“I have come to express my deepest condolences” to the families of the victims, the country’s president, Luis Abinader, said yesterday at the site of the disaster.

Of the 59 injured, 37 were still being treated yesterday.

“We are doing everything humanly possible” to verify what happened to “the 11 missing people,” the country’s emergency response center said. “An investigation will be conducted to determine the causes of this horrific accident,” said Mr. Abinader.

The explosion destroyed or caused damage to adjacent buildings, among them a hardware store, a veterinary clinic, and the prosecutor’s office. So far, it has not been announced exactly where the explosion took place – initially, it was reported that it took place inside a store. Many vehicles in the sector were reduced to ashes.

About 500 members of the security forces, civil protection and fire brigade were operating at the scene of the disaster yesterday, according to the government. Units with specially trained dogs searched for survivors in the rubble of destroyed buildings.

The press published information in which people suffered burns on 30 to 40% of their bodies.

“We must save the lives of those who were injured and we will do so without any limitation on the resources” that will be allocated, President Abinader emphasized.

In hospitals near the scene of the tragedy, dozens of citizens were looking for their loved ones.

One of them told reporters that her father was “supposed to be served here, but he doesn’t appear on the list.”

San Cristóbal, with nearly 700,000 inhabitants, is the fourth most populous province of the Dominican Republic, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti. The city of San Cristóbal is less than 30 kilometers from the capital, Santo Domingo.