Authorities in the Dominican Republic reported the disappearance of five Spanish firefighters during a canyoning excursion on Thursday in the La Ciénega area, a hill located in the municipality of Barahona, in the country’s southwestern region. The incident prompted a swift response as local rescue teams coordinated searches to locate the missing group, which authorities described as sudden and concerning for the mountain terrain they were navigating.
The southwest regional office of Civil Defense confirmed to reporters that a formal notice about the disappearances was issued on Friday morning, after which search operations were launched immediately. The ongoing efforts involve multiple agencies as part of a coordinated response to ensure the safety of all participants in the activity and to determine what happened in the challenging canyon landscape.
While officials have not publicly released the names, it was confirmed that all five individuals have been identified by authorities. The details indicate a team of five Spanish nationals who were in the country specifically to practice canyoning, a sport that combines elements of trekking, climbing, and water navigation in rugged terrain. The group consisted of three men and two women, all affiliated with a firefighting service in Seville. Their colleague Eduardo Gómez, who is part of the group’s regular circle of canyoning enthusiasts, told reporters that the team arrived in the Dominican Republic on November 14 to train and explore the local canyons as part of a scheduled series of outdoor training sessions.
The missing five were last seen leaving Gómez, who had arrived in the country a few days earlier, and attempts to contact them by phone were hampered by limited signal in the canyon area. The weak connectivity compounded the difficulty of coordinating a precise rescue operation from the outset, as rescuers had to rely on both ground teams and aerial support to cover the rough and remote terrain where the incident occurred.
The initial briefing on the disappearance was held in Santo Domingo, where emergency authorities outlined the measures being taken in anticipation of potential tropical weather and heavy rains forecast for the weekend, especially in the southwestern region. Officials indicated that weather conditions could affect both the search and the safety of responders, prompting a careful, staged approach to the operation. The hurricane activity described at the conference was reported to be located several hundred kilometers from the capital, a reminder of the broader Atlantic weather dynamics at play in the area and the potential impact on mountainous search efforts far from urban centers.
Delfín Antonio Rodríguez, head of Dominican Civil Defense Operations, spoke at the briefing about the role of multiple forces in the search. He noted that members from the Tourist Police and the National Army were actively participating in ongoing reconnaissance and rescue activities, helping to map routes, identify safe landing zones for helicopters, and coordinate communications across teams spread through difficult terrain. The collaborative effort reflects the seriousness with which authorities treat foreign travelers missing in remote locales and highlights the importance of interagency cooperation in such scenarios.