A traveler who was at the resort in the Dominican Republic on the same day University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki vanished is claiming there was “no communication” from the hotel regarding beach safety, leaving it “kind of just left up to your own discretion.”
D’Lani Sweeney spoke to NewsNation as the search remains ongoing for the missing 20-year-old, who was last seen entering the beach early Thursday morning at the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana, according to La Policia Nacional, the country’s national police force. On Monday, ABC News reported that Konanki may have drowned, citing law enforcement sources.
“I remember the waves being a lot bigger than they normally were. Me and my friends were on the beach and I remember telling them that I was not going to go into the ocean because I know I can swim, but not that well enough to feel safe in the ocean,” Sweeney said. “I know a couple friends that did go in, but they weren’t in for a while and there weren’t as many people in the ocean as we normally would see.”
“There was no communication from the resort at all of, you know, this is our beach safety, to be safe. It was kind of just left up to your own discretion,” she added. “One night there was like a security guard whistling at people to come in from the beach that were going in, but that was the only night that I had seen it and we went practically almost every day down to the beach to take pictures.”
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A video captured by Sweeney showed a red flag posted at the beach, warning swimmers of rough conditions in the water.
Sweeney also told NewsNation that the resort was suffering from multiple issues during her recent stay, including prolonged power outages, and that she believes “100 percent” that the conditions might have prompted others such as Konanki to spend more time at the beach than normal.
“I know people that got locked out of their rooms and because of the power being for hours, days on end, the customer service was not able to help them or regenerate their cards to work on their room, so people were sleeping in other people’s rooms, they were sleeping on the pool chairs, they were sleeping by the beach, they were staying out as long as they could because there was no AC in the rooms and the rooms would get 80 degrees plus.”
RIU Hotels told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that “Our commitment to the well-being and comfort of our guests is our priority, so we deeply regret the power failure that affected the Riu Republica Hotel last week.
“From the moment the problem was detected, in the early hours of Wednesday, March 5, until it was completely resolved, in the early hours of Thursday, March 6, the hotel team worked tirelessly to resolve the problem rapidly and thus restore all services, which happened progressively during that period of time,” it added. “All members of our staff have been doing their best to mitigate the inconveniences generated by this situation. Despite this, we are aware of the inconvenience that this event generated for the affected guests. For this reason, RIU has established a
compensation policy that will apply to all those customers who process their claim through official channels, either directly with RIU Hotels or with the travel provider with whom they made their reservation.”
“At RIU Hotels, we are deeply concerned about the disappearance of one of our guests,” the resort operator also told Fox News Digital in a statement yesterday.
“We would like to express our deepest sympathy to the family and friends during this incredibly difficult time. The safety and well-being of our guests are our highest priority, and we are fully committed to doing everything in our power to assist in this situation,” it continued.
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Konanki is originally from India but is a legal permanent U.S. resident from Loudoun County, near Washington, D.C., according to authorities. She is 5 feet, 3 inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a brown bikini, hoop earrings, bracelets and an anklet.
Dominican police have said they are investigating one of Konanki’s friends and are looking to corroborate claims from a “young man” who was also in the water on the day of her disappearance.
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When asked if there is any reason to suspect foul play, a spokesperson for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia told Fox News Digital, “We have to consider all possibilities and U.S. law enforcement is looking at everything.”
Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz, Julia Bonavita and Ashley Papa contributed to this report.
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