Buenos Aires, Apr. 10, (dpa/GNA) – The death toll from the collapse of a nightclub roof in the Dominican Republic has jumped to 221, the head of the civil protection agency said on Thursday.

Another 189 people have been rescued from the rubble and brought to hospital after parts of the roof of nightclub Jet Set collapsed early on Tuesday, Juan Manuel Méndez said.

Emergency responders continue to search for bodies, according to the official. “We are leaving no one behind,” he said, while cautioning that no survivors have been found since Tuesday afternoon.

Dominican Republic authorities said Wednesday evening the search and rescue operation launched after the deadly collapse has been replaced by a “body recovery phase.”

Hundreds of party-goers were in the club during a concert by the merengue singer Rubby Pérez when the accident occurred.

Pérez, who was popular in Latin America, also died in the collapse.

The regional governor of the Monte Cristi province, Nelsy Cruz, was also killed, her brother said in an Instagram post.

Former baseball player Tony Blanco, who played in the US for nine years and eight more in Japan, also died, Major League Baseball said.

The cause of the roof’s collapse was initially unclear.

Families were lining up outside the forensics institute in Santo Domingo for the bodies of their loved ones to be released, the Listin Diario daily reported.

The city administration made available 150 plots on the Cristo Redentor graveyard to allow people to bury their relatives for free.

“I thank God that we are still alive,” Marisol Chalas, who was rescued from the rubble with her husband and is being treated in hospital, told Diario Libre newspaper. “It’s very hard what we’ve been through. We have lost many friends.”

GNA

PDC