Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – four hospitalized people after being rescued from the debris of a ceiling collapse in a popular nightclub in the Dominican Republic died during the night, raising the number of deaths to 225, health officials said on Saturday.
The authorities said that 189 people were rescued lives from the debris of the popular place in the capital Santo Domingo. More than 200 were injured, with 15 of them still hospitalized, including five in critical condition.
Early Tuesday, the roof of the Set of the Night Club collapsed during a meringue concert. Politicians, athletes and a fashion designer were among those who enjoyed live music when he hit the disaster.
Until Saturday morning, people remained in a forensic institute waiting for the return of the bodies of their loved ones. Later in the day, the health authorities said that the 225 bodies had been returned to the families of the victims.
The Minister of Health, Victor Attalah, told journalists on Saturday that there was a delay in the identification of the victims because most of them had to coincide with biometric data.
The victims identified so far include the former Baseball players of the Major Leagues Octavio Dotel and Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera. Nelsy Cruz, the governor of the northwestern province of Montecristi, whose brother is the seven-time All-Star Nelson Cruz also died.
The authorities have said that it is too early to determine why the ceiling fell, although the prosecutors visited the scene on Thursday after the rescue teams began to pack and eliminated heavy equipment.
On Thursday, President Luis Abinader and the first lady Raquel Arbaje attended the burial of singer Rubby Pérez at the National Theater of Santo Domingo. Pérez had been acting on stage at the Jet Set Club of packed on Tuesday when the dust began to fall from the roof and, seconds later, the roof collapsed. The mourners dressed in black and white transmitted to the theater and some doubled in tears while Pérez sang the national anthem.
