Hope fades for families waiting for words on their loved ones under the rubble after the roof of a nightclub of the Dominican Republic collapsed earlier this week, while the number of deaths rose to 218 Thursday morning.
So far, 189 people have been saved after the roof of the popular nightclub in Santo Domingo collapsed on Tuesday morning, the authorities announced during a Thursday morning update.
“We have practically combed Ground Zero, there is only one little to look at,” said Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the country’s emergency operations center during a press conference on Thursday morning.
He said that the victim’s area would be closed later Thursday, adding: “It was very difficult for everyone” and expressing his solidarity with affected families.
Mendez added that research and rescue efforts were still underway and in coordination with various state agencies.
The club was once a lively center for nightlife. The collapse has transformed the cultural jewelry into a wreck site, with more than 300 firefighters traveling the rubble and giant cranes removing pieces of concrete roof.
When the roof collapsed, the revelers enjoyed a performance by the popular Merengue Rubby Pérez, who was then found dead.
The other identified victims are the former players of the MLB Octavio Dotel and Tony Cabrera, the Dominican fashion designer Martín Polyco, employees of Grupo Popular – one of the largest banking companies in the country, and Nelsy Cruz, governor of the province of Montecristi.
The country’s emergency operations center said on Wednesday evening that the mission went from a research and rescue phase to a recovery operation.
“In the past few days, the rescue teams have worked without interruption, removing debris, helping people injured and covering people alive,” the agency said in a Spanish statement. “However, after having exhausted all reasonable avenues to find more survivors, the operation now has a different phase, but just as sensitive and crucial: the recovery of human bodies with respect and dignity that each victim deserves.”
After the recovery phase, an investigation will start on the cause of the tragedy.
