Key Points
- Officials say 221 people have died in the tragic incident.
- The government says it will launch a thorough investigation once the recovery phase is over.
- Doctors have warned that many of those injured remain in a critical condition in hospital and are not in the clear yet.
Rescue workers in the Dominican Republic have ended the search for survivors of a nightclub roof collapse that claimed at least 221 lives in the Caribbean nation’s worst disaster in decades.
Emergency crews were on site sorting through the rubble with heavy machinery early on Thursday (local time), on what Juan Manuel Mendez, head of the country's emergency operations centre, said would be the last day of rescue and recovery efforts.
An official statement had earlier said that “all reasonable possibilities of finding more survivors” had been exhausted, and the focus of the operation would turn to recovering bodies.
"Today we will complete the rescue effort," said Jose Luis Frometa Herasme, head of the fire service in the Dominican capital Santo Domingo, where the tragedy occurred at the Jet Set nightclub on Tuesday.
Owners of the Jet Set club said they were working with authorities investigating the disaster, one of the worst in Dominican history. Source: AAP / XP3 GROUP / EPA
Over 300 rescue workers, aided by sniffer dogs, had spent two days combing through mounds of fallen bricks, steel bars and tin sheets, supported by firefighters from Puerto Rico and Israel.
Aerial images of the site showed a scene resembling the aftermath of an earthquake, with a gaping hole where the roof of the club — a fixture of Santo Domingo’s nightlife scene for half a century — had been.
Over 500 people were also injured when the roof caved in while renowned merengue singer Rubby Pérez was performing for a crowd of hundreds.
Pérez and two former Major League Baseball players were among the dead.
Antonio Hernandez, whose son worked at the Jet Set nightclub, told AFP his hopes of finding his son alive had begun fading as he watched more and more bodies, but no survivors, being retrieved.
The remains in one body bag resembled his son’s height and build, said Hernandez, but he did not investigate. "I don’t have the stomach to find out the worst yet."
Mercedes Lopez said she was in a lot of pain as she waited to learn the fate of her son. “We haven’t found him on the lists or in the hospitals,” she said.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio sent his condolences Wednesday and said at least one US citizen was among the victims. "Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones affected by this devastating event," he wrote on X.
Pope Francis also sent condolences.
Local media said there were between 500 and 1,000 people in the club when disaster struck at about 12.44 am local time on Tuesday. The club can hold 1,700 people.
A video posted on social media showed the venue suddenly plunged into darkness while Pérez was singing.
The star’s daughter Zulinka managed to escape, but her father did not.
His body was recovered on Wednesday.
Tributes to the singer, known for hits such as Volvere and Enamorado de Ella poured in from across Latin America. "Maestro, what a great pain you leave us," Puerto Rican Grammy-winning singer Olga Tanon wrote on social media.
Pérez’s former band leader Wilfrido Vargas said he was "devastated" at the death of an "idol of our genre".
Family members mourn during the memorial of Octavio Dotel, a former MLB baseball player who died at the Jet Set nightclub. Source: AAP / Matias Delacroix / AP
Dominican President Luis Abinader declared three days of national mourning.
Iris Pena, a survivor, told local television that she made for the door after "dirt started falling like dust" into her drink and then a stone fell and cracked the table where she was sitting.
"The impact was so strong, as if it had been a tsunami or an earthquake," she said.
