A lately married girl and one other pregnant particular person have been amongst 9 individuals who have been killed when the automobiles have been crushed by a concrete wall throughout a weekend rainstorm within the Dominican Republic
The victims have been touring alongside the closely transited 27 of February Avenue within the nation’s capital, Santo Domingo, when the construction close to the doorway of a tunnel collapsed in a single piece, crushing the vehicles and their occupants.
Video footage confirmed water shortly filling the two-lane street as determined bystanders tried to rescue the victims from the crushed automobiles.
The victims have been recognized as Solange Méndez, 32, and her father, Omar Méndez, 70. Solange was on her method dwelling from a health care provider’s appointment when the wall crashed over their automobile. She was an architect and had celebrated her marriage ceremony September 30 and was planning on shifting to France together with her husband on the finish of the month.
Among the many different victims was Michael Orozco, a 30-year-old prosecutor in Bayamón, Puerto Rico; his spouse, María Martínez, 32; and his in-laws, Awilda Vázquez, 68, and Ramón Martínez, 75. Martínez and her husband had revealed final week that they have been anticipating their first little one.
Solange Méndez, who wed her husband Alexis Depp in September, was among the many 9 individuals who have been killed Saturday in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic after a tunnel wall collapsed and crushed the vehicles they have been touring on. Méndez was planning on shifting with Depp to France

Omar Méndez (pictured) and his daughter Solange Méndez have been among the many 9 individuals who have been confirmed lifeless by Dominican Republic authorities. They have been on their method dwelling from a health care provider’s appointment when a wall close to a tunnel entrance collapsed on high of their automobile and several other others

Puerto Rico prosecutor Michael Orozco (second from proper) along with his spouse, María Martínez (second from left) and his in-laws, Ramón Martínez (left) and Awilda Vázquez (proper) have been killed in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic after rain storms severely broken a tunnel wall, inflicting it to fall on high of their automobile

Bystanders close to the doorway to a tunnel entrance on the 27 of February Avenue try to rescue victims from one the automobiles that have been crushed by a wall
Additionally killed have been Dominican Police Common Eduardo Cabrera Castillo, 65; Haitian nationwide Bonet Dobelier, 35; and a Haitian girl, who has not been recognized as a result of she was not carrying her identification paperwork.
The wall collapse occurred throughout a tropical disturbance that slammed the western Caribbean, battering the Dominican Republic with heavy rainfall all through the weekend.
Authorities have confirmed at the very least 24 individuals died, together with these within the accident.
The storm induced rivers to overflood within the provinces of San Cristonal, Azua and Monte Plata, the place at the very least 300 properties have been severely affected within the city of Sabana Grande de Boyá.
A bunch of civil engineers consider the tunnel wall might not have collapsed had the Dominican Republic authorities heeded their recommendation 24 years in the past once they introduced up issues over the construction’s failures and lack of urgency to restore them.

Solange Méndez was an architect and had celebrated her marriage ceremony September 30. She was planning on shifting to France together with her husband on the finish of the month.

Puerto Rico prosecutor Michael Orozco and his spouse María Martínez had introduced final week that they have been anticipating their first little one

Motorists stopped on the entrance of a tunnel on the 27 of February Avenue in Santo Domingo to attempt to rescue the trapped automobile occupants

A big part of a wall on the entrance of a tunnel within the Dominican Republic collapsed Saturday evening, crushing a number of vehicles and killing 9 occupants. Consultants say the wall fracture was brought on by the drive of the water in a flooded adjoining avenue, mixed with the kind of wall that was constructed
Cristina Rojas, the previous president of the Dominican Faculty of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors, informed the Related Press, the wall collapsed as a result of drive of the water in a flooded adjoining avenue, mixed with the kind of wall that was constructed.
‘It has weaknesses within the design,’ Rojas mentioned. ‘No anchors have been positioned, and that’s the reason the wall collapsed.’
A rainstorm on November 12, 1999 – six weeks after the street opened to motorists for the primary time – despatched a number of elements of the tunnel entrance crashing to the street, though no passengers have been injured or killed.
Osiris de León, a geologist, recalled the incident with a sequence of newspaper clippings from 1999 that he posted on X, previously often called Twitter, the place he mentioned that future storms may produce comparable fractures to the wall and street floor.

Rescuers seek for individuals trapped beneath a tunnel wall that collapsed on a number of automobiles after heavy rains on 27 of February Avenue in Santo Domingo on Saturday

Rescue groups carry a deceased particular person from the place the place a wall collapsed on the entrance of a tunnel in Santo Domingo on Saturday. No less than 9 individuals, together with 4 residents from Puerto Rico have been confirmed lifeless

In 1999, a gaggle of consultants with Dominican Faculty of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors advisable the wall be rebuilt after chunks of the wall collapsed. They argued on the time that because it was cracked, it may ‘fall and trigger a tragic accident’
He advisable the wall be rebuilt as a result of it was cracked and ‘it might probably fall and trigger a tragic accident.’
As a substitute of repairing your complete construction, the Ministry of Public Works opted to solely repair the broken part.
‘What occurred in 1999 was the identical factor that occurred now, it rained torrentially, the limestone in Santo Domingo could be very porous and really cavernous,’ de León informed Listín Diario newspaper. ‘This causes this limestone to change into saturated shortly and when it turns into saturated, what known as pore strain rises,’ he mentioned.
Andrés Matos, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works, rejected accusations that the federal government didn’t correctly keep the wall and close by infrastructure.
‘These tunnels and overpasses are given everlasting upkeep,’ Matos informed the AP. He attributed the collapse to different causes however declined to offer particulars.
‘The ministry is ordering a deep, structuralist investigation, which means that we must always not get forward of the causes,’ he mentioned.
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