The disaster at the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo sent shockwaves through the Caribbean nation, a major tourism destination.
At least 124 people were killed and over 500 injured when the club’s roof caved in while renowned Dominican merengue singer Rubby Perez was performing for a crowd of hundreds in the early hours of Tuesday.
Perez himself died in the calamity, as well as two former Major League Baseball players among the party-goers.
Dozens of relatives gathered outside the club, hospitals and the city morgue on Wednesday, clamouring for news as forensic teams continued to identify the dead.
Over 300 rescue workers continued combing through mounds of fallen bricks, steel bars and tin sheets, supported by firefighters from Puerto Rico and Israel.
Aerial images of the site showed a scene resembling the aftermath of an earthquake, with a gaping hole where the club’s roof had been.
Juan Manuel Mendez, director of emergency operations, said rescue crews still had “24 to 36 hours of work left” to find survivors.
“Hope is the last thing we lose,” he said. (AFP)
