Memorials were taking place Thursday for a merengue star and others killed when a cement roof collapsed at a popular nightclub in the Dominican Republic, as the number of dead surged to 221 and crews completed their search for bodies.
Mourners clad in black and white streamed into Santo Domingo’s National Theater, where the body of Rubby Perez lay inside a closed coffin. Perez had been performing on stage at the packed Jet Set club early Tuesday when dust began falling from the ceiling and, seconds later, the roof caved.
President Luis Abinader and his wife Raquel Arbaje arrived at the theatre and stood beside Perez’s coffin for several minutes. Some mourners doubled over in tears as a recording of Perez singing the national anthem played.
Renowned Dominican musician Juan Luis Guerra was among those gathered to pay their respects.
Perez, 69, had turned to music after a car accident left him unable to pursue his dream of becoming a professional baseball player. He was known for hits including Volvere, which he sang with Wilfrido Vargas’s orchestra, and Buscando tus besos as a solo artist.
Cause of collapse unclear
Just blocks from the memorial, heavy equipment began withdrawing from the site where Jet Set once stood and rescue crews packed up their equipment.
Meanwhile, a group of prosecutors arrived.
It is still unclear what caused the roof to collapse or when the building was last inspected. The government has said it will launch a thorough investigation, and the club’s owners have said they are co-operating with authorities.
Famed Dominican singer Rubby Perez was among the victims of a nightclub roof collapse being memorialized on Thursday, with family, friends and fans paying their final respects at Santo Domingo’s National Theatre. Perez was performing on stage at the Jet Set club early Tuesday when the cement roof caved, killing at least 200 people.
Juan Manuel Mendez, director of the Center 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 said, moving the microphone away from his face as he cried. Other officials patted him on the back as he continued, “Please forgive me,” before passing the microphone to an army official.
Officials said 189 people were rescued from the rubble. More than 200 were injured, with 24 of them still hospitalized, including eight 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. He and other doctors said some of the injured suffered fractures to the skull, femur and pelvis.
Families frustrated
Many people have been anxiously waiting for news of their loved ones, growing frustrated with the drip-drip of information provided by hospitals and the country’s forensic institute.
At least 146 bodies have been identified, authorities said Thursday.
Maria Luisa Taveras told TV station Noticias SIN that she was looking for her sister.
“We have gone everywhere they have told us,” she said, her voice breaking.
Taveras said the family has spread out, with a relative stationed at each hospital and at the National Institute of Forensic Pathology. Dozens of people waited at the institute Thursday, wearing face masks and complaining about the smell as they demanded the release of their loved ones’ bodies.
“The odour is unbearable,” said Wendy Sosa, who has been waiting since Wednesday morning for the body of her cousin, 61-year-old Nilka Curiel Gonzalez. Sosa told The Associated Press by phone that the situation there was “chaotic,” and that officials had set up a refrigerated container to handle the volume of bodies being delivered.
She wept as she described her cousin as gracious, authentic and “very empathetic.”
‘No words’
Victims identified so far include former MLB players Octavio Dotel and Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera; and Nelsy Cruz, the governor of the northwestern province of Montecristi whose brother is seven-time Major League Baseball All-Star Nelson Cruz.
Dotel will be buried Thursday in Santo Domingo. Hundreds of people attended his wake on Wednesday, including Hall of Famer David Ortiz, formerly of the Boston Red Sox. Ortiz said the number of people who attended Dotel’s wake spoke volumes.
“He was a person whom everyone loved,” Ortiz told reporters. “It’s very hard, very hard, truly.”
MLB Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez attended another wake Thursday.
“There are no words to describe the pain we are all feeling,” said Martinez, adding that he knew more than 50 of those who died. “Life is but a breath.”
Also killed was a retired United Nations official; saxophonist Luis Solis, who was playing onstage when the roof fell; New York-based fashion designer Martin 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 employees of Grupo Popular, a financial services company, including the president of AFP Popular Bank and his wife.
More than 20 victims came from Haina, Rubby Perez’s hometown, just southwest of Santo Domingo.
On Thursday, the governor held a communal wake, setting up 10 stands for coffins beneath a banner that read: “Haina bids farewell to her beloved children with immense sorrow.”
Among the mourners was Juancho Guillen, who lost his wife three months ago and whose brother, sister and brother-in-law died at Jet Set.
“This family is in shock, is devastated,” he told Noticias SIN. “We’re practically dead too.”
