Burials start for victims within the Dominican nightclub collapse that killed 221

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A merengue icon, a baseball star and others killed when a cement roof collapsed at a preferred nightclub within the Dominican Republic have been buried Thursday, as authorities known as off the seek for our bodies with the dying toll at 221.

Mourners clad in black and white streamed into Santo Domingo’s Nationwide Theater, the place the physique of singer Rubby Pérez lay inside a closed coffin. Pérez had been acting on stage on the packed Jet Set membership early Tuesday when mud started falling from the ceiling and, seconds later, the roof caved.

President Luis Abinader and first girl Raquel Arbaje arrived on the theater and stood beside Pérez’s coffin for a number of minutes. Some mourners doubled over in tears as a recording of Pérez singing the nationwide anthem performed. Famend Dominican musician Juan Luis Guerra was amongst these gathered to pay their respects.

Pérez, 69, had turned to music after a automotive accident left him unable to pursue his dream of turning into knowledgeable baseball participant. He was recognized for hits together with “Volveré,” which he sang with Wilfrido Vargas’s orchestra, and “Buscando tus besos” as a solo artist.

After a five-hour memorial, mourners launched dozens of white balloons outdoors the theater and spontaneously sang “Volveré” in unison. One girl put her hand over her coronary heart and patted it as she cried.

On the cemetery, Zulinka Pérez, one in every of his daughters, stated: “I knew he was loved but I never imagined this.”

The seek for solutions

Simply blocks from the memorial for Pérez, heavy tools started withdrawing from the location the place Jet Set as soon as stood and rescue crews packed up their tools.

In the meantime, a bunch of prosecutors arrived.

It’s nonetheless unclear what brought on the roof to break down or when the constructing was final inspected. The federal government has stated it should launch an intensive investigation, and the membership’s homeowners have stated they’re cooperating with authorities.

Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the Middle of Emergency Operations, broke down as he addressed reporters.

“Thank you, God, because today we accomplished the most difficult task I’ve had in 20 years,” he stated, shifting the microphone away from his face as he cried. Different officers patted him on the again as he continued, “Please forgive me,” earlier than passing the microphone to a military official.

Officers stated 189 individuals have been rescued alive from the rubble. Greater than 200 have been injured, with 23 of them nonetheless hospitalized, together with eight in essential situation.

“If the trauma is too great, there’s not a lot of time” left to save lots of sufferers in that situation, stated Well being Minister Víctor Atallah. He and different medical doctors stated a number of the injured suffered fractures to the cranium, femur and pelvis.

Exasperated households wait

Many individuals have been anxiously ready for information of their family members, rising annoyed with the drip-drip of data offered by hospitals and the nation’s forensic institute.

At the very least 146 our bodies have been recognized, authorities stated Thursday.

María Luisa Taveras informed TV station Noticias SIN that she was on the lookout for her sister.

“We have gone everywhere they have told us,” she stated, her voice breaking.

Taveras stated the household has unfold out, with a relative stationed at every hospital and on the Nationwide Institute of Forensic Pathology. Dozens of individuals waited on the institute Thursday, sporting face masks and complaining in regards to the scent as they demanded the discharge of their family members’ our bodies.

“The odor is unbearable,” stated Wendy Sosa, who has been ready since Wednesday morning for the physique of her cousin, 61-year-old Nilka Curiel González. Sosa informed The Related Press by cellphone that the state of affairs there was “chaotic,” and that officers had arrange a refrigerated container to deal with the quantity of our bodies being delivered.

She wept as she described her cousin as gracious, genuine, and “very empathetic.”

‘Life is however a breath’

Victims recognized to this point embrace former MLB gamers Octavio Dotel and Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera; and Nelsy Cruz, the governor of the northwestern province of Montecristi whose brother is seven-time Main League Baseball All-Star Nelson Cruz.

Dotel was buried Thursday in Santo Domingo. Tons of of individuals attended his wake on Wednesday, together with Corridor of Famer David Ortiz, previously of the Boston Pink Sox. Ortiz stated the quantity of people that attended Dotel’s wake spoke volumes.

“He was a person whom everyone loved,” Ortiz informed reporters. “It’s very hard, very hard, truly.”

MLB Corridor of Famer Pedro Martínez attended one other wake Thursday.

“There are no words to describe the pain we are all feeling,” stated Martínez, including that he knew greater than 50 of those that died. “Life is but a breath.”

Additionally killed was a retired United Nations official; saxophonist Luis Solís, who was enjoying onstage when the roof fell; New York-based clothier Martín Polanco; the son and daughter-in-law of the minister of public works; the brother of the vice minister of the Ministry of Youth; and three workers of Grupo In style, a monetary providers firm, together with the president of AFP In style Financial institution and his spouse.

Greater than 20 victims got here from Haina, Rubby Pérez’s hometown, simply southwest of Santo Domingo.

The governor held a communal wake, establishing 10 stands for coffins beneath a banner that learn: “Haina bids farewell to her beloved children with immense sorrow.”

Among the many mourners was Juancho Guillén, who misplaced his spouse three months in the past and whose brother, sister and brother-in-law died at Jet Set.

“This family is in shock, is devastated,” he informed Noticias SIN. “We’re practically dead too.”