Research efforts continued early Wednesday after nearly 100 people died in a collapse of the roof of the nightclub in the Dominican Republic.
The singer of the popular Dominican merengue Rubby Pérez, who performed at the Jet Set nightclub before hundreds of people when the collapse occurred shortly after midnight on Tuesday, was one of the people killed, according to his manager.
Relatives of clubs have gathered around the capital’s catastrophe site, Santo Domingo, while the rescuers transported the injured to the hospital and used a crane to eliminate debris.
“We have friends here, a niece, a cousin, friends, who are in the rubble,” said Rodolfo Espinal while waiting for information about his relatives.
About 370 rescue staff have combed mounds of fallen bricks, steel bars and tin leaves for survivors.
Among the dead, the former players of the Major Baseball Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco baseball league. Dotel, who was 51, was rescued alive but died later from his injuries, local media reported.
Local media said there were between 500 and 1,000 people in the club when the roof collapsed around 12:44 p.m. on Tuesday. The club had a capacity of around 1,700 people.
Pérez was on stage when there was a power failure and the roof crashed, according to witnesses. Pérez’s daughter Zulinka told journalists that she had managed to escape after the collapse of the roof, but he did not do it.
Dominican president Luis Abinader said that the Governor of the Municipality of Monte Cristi, Nelsy Cruz, had also been killed. Abinader said three days of national mourning.
Until early Wednesday, the preliminary death toll reached 98 years, said Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the emergency operations center. “No one has been found alive since 15 hours,” said Mendez in his last update.
He said earlier: “As long as there is hope for life, all authorities will endeavor to recover or save these people.”
Iris Peña, who had attended the show, told Sin Television how she had escaped with her son. “At one point, the dirt began to fall like dust in the drink on the table,” she said. “A stone fell and cracked the table where we were, and we came out. The impact was so strong, as if it had been a tsunami or an earthquake.”
Dozens of family members have flocked to hospitals for news. “We are desperate,” said Regina Del Rosa, whose sister was at the concert, in Sin. “They don’t give us news, they don’t tell us anything.”
The images of helicopters revealed a large hole where the club’s roof was. A crane helped to lift some of the heavier rubble while men in rich helmets dug through the debris. The authorities appealed to the Dominicans to give blood.
The artists paid tribute to Pérez on social networks. “The friend and the idol of our genre left us,” wrote Wilfrido Vargas. Puerto Rican singer Olga Tañón wrote: “Maestro, what a great pain he leaves us.”
The Instagram page of the Jet Set Club says it has been active for over 50 years, with shows every Monday until the first hours. His latest article before the Monday event invited fans to come and “enjoy his greatest successes (Pérez) and dance in the best nightclub in the country”.
On Tuesday, the club published a statement saying that it worked “fully and transparent” with the authorities.
The collapse of the Jet Set roof is one of the largest tragedies the Caribbean nation has been confronted in recent years. In 2023, around forty people were killed and dozens injured in an explosion linked to a plastic company in San Cristóbal, near Santo Domingo. In 2005, more than 130 prisoners east of the country died in a fire caused by a fight between detainees.
Tourism generates around 15% of GDP in the country, with millions of annual visitors attracted by its music, its nightlife, its beaches and the colonial architecture of the capital.
