Dominicans have begun burying loved ones who were among more than 200 victims of a nightclub rooftop collapse, even as dozens of people remained unaccounted for
More than 300 rescuers, aided by sniffer dogs, had worked tirelessly since disaster struck early Tuesday to pull survivors from the rubble of the Jet Set club in the Dominican Republic’s capital Santo Domingo.
They called off the search for live victims on Wednesday night, and shifted their efforts to recovering bodies from the mounds of twisted steel, zinc and brick that remain of the structure.
Local media had reported there were between 500 and 1,000 people at the club — which could hold 1,700 — for a concert by renowned merengue singer Rubby Perez, who was on stage when the roof came down, and d!ed on site.
His daughter made it out alive.
Juan Manuel Mendez, director of the Center for Emergency Operations, told reporters Thursday the official toll stood at 221. A total of 189 people were pulled out of the debris alive.
A consolidated report of victims will be published in the coming hours, said Mendez.
“Our rescue team is already concluding the search operations,” he added.
Health Minister Victor Atallah said Thursday there might be more bodies under the rubble in the Caribbean nation’s worst tragedy in decades.
“No one will be left unidentified. No one will be left without an answer,” he told reporters. “We are going to move every last stone that needs to be moved.”
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