Now is the catastrophe of the century in the Caribbean country. The already tragic evaluation of the collapse of the Jet Set Disco ceiling in the Dominican Republic jumped on Wednesday, April 9 at night from 124 to 184 dead almost 48 hours after the drama.
“Unfortunately, it is informed that to date we have 184 people recovered (deceased), according to the insane certificate”, the Medical-Legal Institute, announced the director of the Emergency Operations Center (COE), Juan Manuel Méndez at 10:30 pm locals (4:30 am French time). There is 60 dead more than the previous evaluation given at the end of the morning.
It is the worst catastrophe in the recent history of the country, marked by an explosion in San Cristóbal, on the outskirts of Santo Domingo (38 dead) two years ago. Now it exceeds, in terms of human evaluation, the fire in 2005 of a prison in Higuey (this) that had cost him the lives of 136 detainees.
“We will be here until we will recover people who could be lives or that we recover the bodies that could be in these debris. We will maintain the necessary time. We will not renounce this site whenever it is a fence of a victim who is not in the morgue or in the hospital,” he said when there is little hope of finding survivors.
No living person has been out of the rubble since Tuesday at 3 pm, said Juan Manuel Méndez, confirming the figure of more than 150 wounds. The aerial images show a hole instead of the roof of the establishment that collapsed at 12:44 am (6:44 am, French time) on the night from Monday to Tuesday, when between 500 and 1,000 people attended a concert of a star of the Merengue Rubby Pérez, also died.
There is no balance of missing people
Palas and mechanical cranes are working to eliminate the intertwining of concrete and waste blocks. Three hundred rescuers are on the scene, supported by teams from Israel and Puerto Rico that reached reinforcements. The authorities did not give an evaluation of the missing persons.
Dozens of relatives always bring together around the nightclub, hospitals and morgue while waiting for news or identification of their loved ones. A brandity to Photo, another wait. A list of names of victims has been placed on the canvas of a tent next to where the bodies arrive.
Mercedes López is looking for one of his missing children. “They did not give us any information, we did not find it on the lists (Dead) or in hospitals,” he tells AFP. “It’s anxiety and much pain.” Mercedes Méndez stressed during the first point in the morning that “the identification of the bodies” was underway and that the Medical-Legal Institute would give indications about the nationality of the victims.
At least one American is among the victims, announced the head of American diplomacy Marco Rubio in a statement by sending their thoughts “to families and relatives affected by this devastating event.”
Died on stage
Rubby Pérez’s concert had attracted many fans and celebrities. In a video transmitted on social networks, we can see the collapse of the roof while the singer is on stage. Other videos on social networks show employees to sweep the establishment before drama to eliminate stones and small debris that fall from the ceiling.
Rubby Pérez’s body has been exhumed from the debris, authorities confirmed. The music of which she was nicknamed “the most acute voice in the meringue”, turned the Latin America and the Caribbean of America and the planet.
Many artists paid tribute to social networks. It must be buried on Thursday after a tribute. The Dominican President, Luis Abinader, decreed three days of national mourning in tribute to the victims of the tragedy. Pope Francis sent a message to the Dominicans who told himself “very painful” for the “tragic collapse” and presented “their sincere condolences to families.”
Source: BFM TV
