The Dominican Republic authorities ended the search for victims of the tragic collapse of the jet set ceiling in Santo Domingo, which occurred at dawn on Tuesday, 8, and left 221 dead and 189 injured.
The accident, which shocked the country, happened during a show by merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who also died.
Among the victims are prominent figures, such as politicians, former baseball players and entrepreneurs, as well as entire families who were on site.
The building, which has been a cinema for over 50 years, collapsed while hundreds of people gathered for the traditional nightclub music night, popular among the country’s political and business elite.
After three days of search, the emergency operations center transferred the authority over the scene to the prosecutor, which now investigates the causes of collapse.
“These numbers sadden the country. The Dominican family is in mourning,” said Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the Center, in a conference marked by emotion.
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The work of rescuers was exhaustive and praised by the authorities. According to José Luis Fromice Herasme, head of the city’s Fire Department, some professionals worked for up to 53 consecutive hours.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire career. We rescued 189 wounded people in record time, and that’s a blessing to us,” he said.
Despite their efforts, most victims died instantly, as secured by the Minister of Health, Victor E. Atallah, in an effort to comfort the bereaved families.
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However, the process of identifying the bodies has been slow and painful.
Until the morning of Thursday, the Forensic Pathology Institute had identified 146 of the 220 victims received. Family members face long waits on the morgue to recover the bodies of their loved ones.
Kelvin Espinal, who lost his cousin Yadhira Elaine Estévez Serrano, reported the anguish lived by dozens of families. “We spent all day here, until midnight, and came back the following days,” said Espinal.
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“We concluded the hardest task I had in 20 years of operations,” Méndez said, thrilled, by ending the search.
