SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) -Recovery efforts wrapped up in the capital of the Dominican Republic after a roof collapse at a nightclub during a concert killed at least 221 people, authorities said on Thursday.
As families continue to mourn their loved ones, the cause of the catastrophe and the exact number of people who attended the fateful event have not yet been determined by authorities.
The sudden collapse at the Jet Set club in Santo Domingo after midnight on Tuesday marred a concert by merengue singer Rubby Perez where politicians, athletes and other prominent local figures had gathered.
"Today the search, rescue and recovery of victims ended," presidential spokesperson Homero Figueroa said in a video the government posted on social media. "Now it is time to move on to another phase, that of understanding and explaining what happened."
The Dominican government has approved creating a team of national and international experts to clarify the causes of the roof collapse at the popular venue, Figueroa said in the video.
Emergency teams, that were on site until Thursday morning, pulled nearly 200 survivors from the building in the hours following the disaster.
Juan Manuel Mendez, head of the country's emergency operations center (COE), said, "This is the hardest task I've had in my 20 years of leading the COE," breaking down in tears.
After recovery efforts ended, the families of those missing left the area surrounding the nightclub, where they had stood for days embracing each other.
Perez, the singer, was among those killed in the crush.
Dominican President Luis Abinader attended his funeral on Thursday, with a public memorial service for him set to follow later in the day.
Pitcher Octavio Dotel and slugger Tony Blanco, both former Major League Baseball players, also died.
(Reporting by Paul Mathiasen; Writing by Kylie Madry and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by Joe Bavier and Christian Schmollinger)
