Relatives waited for news of their loved ones at the National Institute of Forensic Pathology, which has become a place of anguish. NBC6’s Hatzel Vela reports
A roof collapse at the legendary Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo has plunged the Dominican Republic into mourning.
Authorities say the disaster early Tuesday killed 221 people and injured more than 200 others. Nearly two dozen people remain hospitalized, with several in critical condition.
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WATCH HERERelatives waited for news of their loved ones at the National Institute of Forensic Pathology, which has become a place of anguish.
A screen set up nearby showed the names of victims in different colors. Those in black meant that the bodies were ready but that no one had picked them up, while those in green meant the relatives had identified them.
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Under a tarp, government officials met with family members who presented official documents of their loved ones in order to pick up their remains.
"My parents, both of them...they came just to have fun," said Ester Lopez of New York.
Lopez came to the Dominican Republic to take her parents back to the Bronx. Days later, she still doesn't have their bodies.
"I’m not going to be able to recognize my family," she said.
One woman lost her uncle, 53-year-old Johnny Garcia Abreu, who worked security at the doomed nightclub. Her family has been waiting since Tuesday.
"There are no doctors to perform autopsies," she said in Spanish. "...We want to give our family a Christian burial."
Larry Reyes lost three of his relatives that night. His two female cousins remain inside the morgue.
Melvin Gil showed a picture of his 20-year-old niece, who perished.
“Things here have been chaotic," he said in Spanish.
