Black man from Denver gets sick on plane, becomes 11th American tourist to die in Dominican Republic

Why do people keep ending up dead there?

Khalid Adkins is the latest American to die in the Dominican Republic in a series of somewhat mysterious or unexpected deaths in the recent months.

Blue Telusma

Jun 28, 2019

Khalid Adkins, 46, died at a Santo Domingo hospital just days after suddenly falling ill in the Dominican Republic. (photo courtesy of GoFundMe)

It has happened again. A Black man from Denver, Colorado has unfortunately now become the 11th American citizen to mysteriously die while vacationing in the Dominican Republic.

According to local Fox affiliate FOX13, Tuesday, loved ones confirmed that Khalid Adkins died during his travels to the Caribbean island with his daughter. He was 46-years old.

The victim’s sister-in-law, Marla Strick, told the station that after Adkins’ daughter returned to Denver he became seriously ill while attempting to fly back to the United States on Sunday.

Adkin’s was allegedly forced off the plane due to his declining health and was later hospitalized in the island’s capital city, Santo Domingo where he was officially pronounced dead on Tuesday evening.

“They transferred him to Santo Domingo and [said] that his breathing is really bad and that his kidneys were failing,” Strick said. “He said his leg started to swell and that’s why he couldn’t get up. And he started sweating and vomiting. He is just yelling and in pain, so he couldn’t talk to me.”

Family members of other American fatalities in the Dominican Republic have reported that officials on the island have asked for large sums of money to return bodies to the States.

In that same vein, Strick noted that doctors in the Dominican capital offered to find a dialysis machine to save her brother-in-law and then return him to the United States via air ambulance for a cost of approximately $20,000.

Upon hearing that Strick created a GoFundMe page, which has amassed over $23,000 to date. However, after the family received word of Khalid Adkins’ passing, Strick posted an update on the fundraiser page informing everyone that it was too late.

“I am absolutely detested to make this update but we have lost Khalid!!! We found out this morning that he passed away last night,” she wrote Wednesday. “I am at a loss for words we have no explanation of what happened all they will say is he get sick!! We need to get his body home anything helps please!! We really want to know what happened!”

The Dominican Ministry of Tourism has said that these deaths are coincidental and repeatedly assured tourists that the island remains safe to visit. However speculations of foul play from both the families who have lost loved ones and the public at large has only grown as the death toll rises.

Adkins, who apparently loved the Dominican Republic so much he told family members that he planned to eventually retire there, leaves behind two daughters ages 20 and 24.