The first disturbing signs of the Jet Set nightclub arrived around midnight, when plasa and ceiling water paces landed on some of the hundreds of bankers, politicians, civil servants and former baseball players crowded in the most popular club of Santo Domingo for a live concert.
About 40 minutes later, early April 8, a heavy slab crashed and divided a table in two, the final warning that something terrible was going to happen in a club with noise complaints and a collection of heavy air conditioning equipment and water tanks on its fleeing roof.
A few moments later, the roof collapsed in a thunderous applause, killing 232 people and trapping nearly 200 others under a pile of concrete, machines and other debris.
The Jet Set disaster amazed the Dominican Republic and focused attention on what criticisms say they are a blatant national weakness: the government does not regularly inspect the aging structures of the country. At least seven other buildings, including a furniture store, a shopping center and an office building, have collapsed in recent years, with fatal results.
“God warned us, but the music and the party did not let people hear it,” said Nelson Pimentel, 65, who was on Jet Set with friends from a club of the elderly. “When the first piece fell with water, I looked up and saw what looked like repairs. I work in construction, and I can tell you: this construction seemed very old. ”
When the biggest piece fell, he said, people had about 15 seconds to run. Ten of his friends did not succeed.
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