The death toll from the nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic surged to 218 on Thursday, making it one of the Caribbean nation’s worst tragedies in recent history.
Santo Domingo’s iconic Jet Set nightclub was packed with government officials, musicians, and retired Major League Baseball players on Tuesday when dust started to fall from the ceiling into people’s drinks. Minutes later, the roof collapsed.
At least 145 people were rescued from the rubble. Crews are still searching for survivors, but no one has been found alive since Tuesday afternoon, according to Emergency Operations Centre director Juan Manuel Méndez.
“We've practically combed through ground zero,” Mr Méndez said, adding that crews are focussing on one remaining very small area of rubble. “This has been very difficult for us all.”
Doctors have warned that some of the 20 hospitalised people are not yet in the clear, including at least eight patients in critical condition.
“If the trauma is too great, there's not a lot of time” left to save patients in that condition, said Health Minister Victor Atallah.
The minister and other doctors said the injuries include skull, pelvis and femur fractures caused by slabs of cement which fell on the audience.
“They spent more than six, seven, eight hours under the rubble with multiple fractures, multiple injuries, with bleeding related to being crushed,” added Dr Julio Landrón, director general of Ney Arias Lora Trauma Hospital, where 20 people were admitted.
The National Institute of Forensic Pathology on Wednesday released the names of 54 victims who had been identified and said they had already delivered 28 bodies to their families.
After receiving no answers from the forensic institute or hospitals that day, dozens of relatives anxiously searched for their loved ones.
“We cannot wait until nighttime!” said a woman waiting for a relative, whose name she didn’t hear. “We are going to go crazy!”
José Sánchez, was another relative waiting on Wednesday. Looking for his brother and brother-in-law, he said the local authorities were “selling us false dreams”.
On Wednesday night the government said it had moved to the recovery phase. By Thursday, just one family remained with no answers.
Marïa Luisa Taveras is still desperately searching for her sister. The family has spread out with a relative waiting at every hospital and the forensic institute.
“We have gone everywhere they told us,” Ms. Taveras told TV station Noticias SIN, her voice breaking.
The roof collapsed nearly an hour after the concert started, headed by “the loudest voice in merengue”, Rubby Pérez.
People trapped under the concrete slabs began calling the emergency services line, which received more than 100 calls.
Pérez’s body was found early on Wednesday, Mr Méndez said.
Two former Major League Baseball players, Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco, were killed in the tragedy, as was Nelsy Cruz, governor of Monte Cristi province, who had called president Luis Abinader from under the rubble to alert him about the disaster.
The president declared three days of mourning following the disaster and traveled to the site of collapse to console the relatives of the victims.
“We deeply regret the tragedy that occurred at the Jet Set nightclub,” Mr Abinader said on X. “All rescue agencies have provided the necessary assistance and are working tirelessly. Our prayers are with the affected families.”
In 2005, more than 130 people were killed after a fire caused during a clash between inmates in a prison.
The cause of the roof collapse and the date of the club’s last inspection was not immediately clear.
A thorough investigation will take place once the recovery phase ends, the government said.
The club stated it was cooperating with authorities and a spokesperson for its family owners has passed on questions about potential inspections.
Meanwhile, a Ministry of Public Works spokesperson has referred questions to the mayor's office.
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