Burials begin for victims in 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 popular nightclub in the Dominican Republic were buried Thursday, as authorities called off the search for bodies with the death toll at 221.

Mourners clad in black and white streamed into Santo Domingo’s National Theater, where the body of singer Rubby Pérez lay inside a closed coffin. Pérez 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 first lady Raquel Arbaje arrived at the theater and stood beside Pérez’s coffin for several minutes. Some mourners doubled over in tears as a recording of Pérez singing the national anthem played. Renowned Dominican musician Juan Luis Guerra was among those gathered to pay their respects.

Pérez, 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 “Volveré,” which he sang with Wilfrido Vargas’s orchestra, and “Buscando tus besos” as a solo artist.

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

At the cemetery, Zulinka Pérez, one of his daughters, said: “I knew he was loved but I never imagined this.”

The search for answers

Just blocks from the memorial for Pérez, 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 cooperating with authorities.

Juan Manuel Méndez, 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 alive from the rubble. More than 200 were injured, with 23 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 Víctor Atallah. He and other doctors said some of the injured suffered fractures to the skull, femur and pelvis.

Exasperated families wait

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.

María 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 odor is unbearable,” said Wendy Sosa, who has been waiting since Wednesday morning for the body of her cousin, 61-year-old Nilka Curiel González. 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.”

‘Life is but a breath’

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 was 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 Martínez attended another wake Thursday.

“There are no words to describe the pain we are all feeling,” said Martínez, 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 Solís, who was playing onstage when the roof fell; New York-based fashion designer 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 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 Pérez’s hometown, just southwest of Santo Domingo.

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 Guillén, 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.”