Date | December 31, 1986 |
---|---|
Time | 3:30 p.m.[1] |
Venue | Hotel Dupont Plaza |
Location | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Coordinates | 18°27′22″N 66°4′13″W / 18.45611°N 66.07028°W |
Type | Fire |
Cause | Arson |
Deaths | 96–98 |
Non-fatal injuries | 140 |
Convicted | Héctor Escudero, Armando Jiménez, and José Rivera |
Convictions | Murder |
Sentence | Jiménez: 75 years in prison Escudero, Rivera: 99 years in prison |
On New Year's Eve, December 31, 1986, three disgruntled employees at the Dupont Plaza Hotel (now San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, intentionally set a fire. The employees (Héctor Escudero, Armando Jiménez, and José Rivera) were involved in a labor dispute with the owners. The fire killed between 96 and 98 people and injured 140 others. It is the most catastrophic hotel fire in Puerto Rican history and the second deadliest hotel fire in U.S. territory in history, after the Winecoff Hotel fire in Atlanta in 1946.[2]