By Dave Goldiner From New York Daily News

A Long Island pizzeria owner died this week after suddenly becoming ill at a resort in the Dominican Republic, the third American tourist to die in a week in the Caribbean island nation.

Vittorio Caruso, 56, of Glen Cove, went into respiratory distress and died Monday after drinking something at the Boca Chica Resort in Santo Domingo where he was staying, relatives told Fox News.

“This was a complete shock to us, as Vittorio was not a sick person,” Lisa Maria Caruso, the dead man’s sister-in-law, told the news channel.

Caruso is the 11th American tourist to die in the Dominican since last year. The two other U.S. tourists who died this month are Leyla Cox, a 53-year-old hospital MRI technician from Staten Island who was found dead in her hotel room on June 10, and Joseph Allen, 55, from Avenel, N.J., who died in his room on June 13.

The rash of unexplained deaths has prompted a crisis in the tourism-dependent Dominican Republic, especially since they hit the headlines at the same time as the unrelated shooting of baseball legend David (Big Papi) Ortiz in a Santo Domingo nightclub.[More Politics] The Mueller report may be turned into a comic book »

Dominican authorities say they are investigating the deaths but don’t suspect any foul play. Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia insisted that it is safe to vacation there.

“If there’s been negligence of any kind, we will act,” Garcia said.

Lisa Maria Caruso said her late brother-in-law owned and operated a pizzeria with his brother until a month ago.[More Politics] Cory Booker and Joe Biden had a ‘constructive conversation’ about race »

He traveled alone to the Dominican Republic for a vacation and planned to return on Thursday.

“I honestly don’t know exactly what happened, as we have been told conflicting stories from different people there,” she said. “It is very hard to get a straight story from anyone there.”

Relatives were angered when Dominican authorities suggested cremating the dead man’s body.

“We insisted on having the body sent back here,” she said.

For more on this story go to: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-dominican-death-long-island-pizza-vittorio-caruso-20190623-euqrtzn7c5fibfypf3mbv3uhzy-story.html