SANTO DOMINGO — Identifying and conducting autopsies for the 225 people killed in the Jet Set nightclub’s roof collapse four days ago has been a task so daunting it overwhelmed the country’s morgue.
Heartbroken families hoping to receive the remains of their loved ones have been waiting outside the Dominican Republic’s institute of pathology for days, begging authorities to release the bodies so they can start to mourn their relatives.
Róger de la Rosa, who flew from the United States after finding out on Wednesday that his sister, Rosie de la Rosa Ortega, was one of the fatal victims, was desperately demanding answers from forensic officials on Friday morning. He questioned the need for the autopsies.
“No one has faced me,” de la Rosa said in Spanish. “No one has the courage to look me in the eyes.”
Others like Ana Julia Mejía, who was waiting to receive her mother’s remains, had the same question.
“We don’t want an autopsy because we know what they died of. We just want them to give them to us, so we can hold a wake,” Mejía told Noticias Telemundo.
Public Health Minister Victor Atallah updated the death toll from 221 to 225 when speaking to Noticias Telemundo early Friday afternoon.
Government officials have said the autopsies help determine if the person died instantly, as a result of their injuries or by asphyxia due to the debris. Also, they said, the autopsies will likely serve as “important evidence” in the ongoing investigation into what caused the collapse.
As of late Thursday night, forensic officials had completed 130 autopsies, according to the national attorney general’s office.
Antoliano Peralta, a legal consultant to the Dominican Republic’s executive branch, admitted in an interview with Noticias Telemundo that the tragedy’s death toll was so big it “exceeds the forensic institute’s capacity.”
The smell of the corpses inside the morgue could even be felt outside the building, reaching the families who were outside waiting for answers, Noticias Telemundo reported.
No nation in the world is equipped to conduct hundreds of autopsies in one day, according to Atallah, the public health minister. Still, authorities assured they’re doing everything they can to speed up the process.
The attorney general’s office said in a statement the government has “strengthened our forensic medical team with the goal of completing all autopsies” by Friday.
Of the autopsies conducted as of Friday morning, over 80% of the victims died of head trauma caused by the impact of the crumbling ceiling, Atallah said. “That means that they either died instantly or very quickly.”
‘I was trapped in the rubble’
In addition to the hundreds of bodies, rescue crews recovered 189 survivors from the rubble. Cristobal Moya was among those who survived.
Speaking to NBC News from his hospital bed Thursday afternoon, Moya said he survived “thanks to God.”
He recalled sitting down to watch renowned merengue singer Rubby Pérez perform on stage when what appeared to be heavy dust began to fall from above.
“In a minute, the roof caved in. Something hit my head. I lost consciousness,” Moya said in Spanish. “When I woke up, I was trapped in the rubble.” He thought for a second, “Was I dreaming? No, I wasn’t.”
Video from the people who rescued Moya shows him laying face down, his head covered in blood and his body buried in the debris. Moya sustained injuries in his head, torso and legs.
“God gave me an opportunity,” Moya said. “A new opportunity at life.”
Videos from inside the Jet Set nightclub minutes before disaster struck show what is now Pérez’s last concert. Before the roof collapse killed him, Pérez was entertaining the crowd with his powerful voice and energetic dance moves.
The videos were filmed by Isaac González, the nightclub’s official photographer. He was there to capture what was supposed to be a celebratory event starring one of the biggest music stars of the Dominican Republic. But instead, he ended the night documenting one of the country’s deadliest events.
González said the roof collapsed when he stepped outside the venue for five minutes to take a break. He was one of the first to film the club’s devastation and the emergency response. His videos also show first responders arriving at the scene, later placing body bag after body bag into ambulances.
Funeral services and burials for all the victims continue to take place this week.
Among the people who died are Nelsy Cruz, the governor of Montecristi province, former MLB players Octavio Dotel and Tony Cabrera, Dominican fashion designer Martín Polanco and employees of Grupo Popular — one of the country’s largest banking companies — and the nation’s Medical Colonel Dr. José Ovidio Maldonado Reyes.
Nicole Acevedo reported from New York and Lourdes Hurtado and Erin McLaughlin from Santo Domingo.
Carolina Gonzalez and Colin Sheeley contributed.
