The Dupont Plaza Hotel reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Dupont Plaza Hotel

The Dupont Plaza Hotel and Casino, located in San Juan, Puerto Rico was famous for various things: It was so huge that it could be seen even from the insides of airplanes. This hotel was notorious among entertainers and sports stars (particularly boxing) This second paradise hosted many New Years Eve parties.

On the night of December 31st of 1986, a massive fire was set at the Dupont Plaza. Flammable liquid was placed in a storage room on the ground floor of the hotel. At the time, the New Year's Eve party took place in the casino. The fire was started, which would kill 97 persons and injure 140.

During 1986, tourism industry workers in Puerto Rico had been in dispute with the government about their salaries. Police investigation in the Dupont Plaza Hotel case led to three Dupont Plaza workers. These three individuals later admitted that they wanted to terrorize foreign tourists away from coming to Puerto Rico, as a pay back to the Government. The men were convicted in connection with the fire and jailed.

One last note, many Puerto Ricans also helped save the lives of visitors in the hotel that night. One of the rescuers was author and former reporter, Professor Norma Valle de Ferré who today teaches in the University of Puerto Rico.

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