A famous singer and two baseball legends are among dozens of people killed after the roof of a nightclub in the Dominican Republic caved in mid-performance.
Revellers had been dancing to famous Dominican singer Rubby Pérez, who had been performing at the time of the collapse. Local outlet El Dia reported the band’s saxophonist was killed in the crush while the search for him continues. The club, located at the popular Santo Domingo area, collapsed at about 2am local time with several people having been confirmed to have died after the roof of the Jet Set Club suddenly caving in. As of this afternoon, at least 98 deaths have been confirmed with some 160 injuries being reported.
Rescuers have said they were “communicating” with people who are still understood to be trapped inside the rubble. The search for Mr Pérez continued following the tragic collapse but he was confirmed dead at around 8pm (local time) on Tuesday. Former Baseball World Series stars Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco also died after the roof collapse.
Mr Pérez’s daughter-in-law, a back up singer for the band, had been found alivet. The band’s bassist was pulled from the rubble with a broken leg with at least a dozen more believed to be trapped.
A video showing the moment of the collapse showed the band on stage as the ceiling of the building caved in on them. More videos of the moment have been shared across social media after the tragedy was confirmed.
Reports initially claimed that the former pitcher Mr Dotel, 51, had been rescued from the rubble after screaming for help. But his brother Angel later told El Nuevo Diario newspaper that he died before being pulled from underneath the debris.
“They told us he was alive, but in reality he was dead, since last night,” Angel said. “The blow hit him on the head and it seems that it broke his neck.” Former Major League Baseball star Tony Blanco has also died in the tragedy.
Another clip shows how people in the club fleeing the dance floor with panicked looks on their faces. Luis Abiander, President of the Dominican Republic, said: “We deeply regret the tragedy that occurred at the Jet Set nightclub.
“We have followed the incident minute by minute since it occurred. All relief agencies have provided the necessary assistance and are working tirelessly in the rescue efforts. Our prayers are with the affected families.”
Juan Manuel Mendez, the Dominican Republic’s Director of Emergency Management Operations, said in an update shared to Instagram that authorities presume that many people who are trapped are still alive. He added rescuers “will not stop” until they find the last person.
He wrote: “We are still working, searching for people in the rubble. We presume that many of them are still alive, that’s why the authorities here with their teams will not stop until we find the last person in that rubble.”
El Dia reported that at least 77 ambulances were on the scene as well as eight fire trucks and 30 rescuers from the Civil Defence team. About 200 National Police force members and some 50 soldiers were also used to rescue survivors.
It was confirmed eight hospitals were put on red alert as the victims of the collapse were taken for treatment. They were taken to the Cuban, Royal, Modern, and UCE medical centres.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.
