CLUB OWNER SPEAKS OUT AFTER ROOF COLLAPSED KILLING OVER 200 MEMBERS
About an hour after a concert started on Tuesday, April 8, the roof of the Jet Set nightclub in southern Santo Domingo collapsed. Videos of the roof collapsing before the entire building collapsed on itself soon started to circulate while singer Rubby Pérez was singing. "There are no words to explain the anguish this event has caused," said Antonio Espaillat, the club's owner, in a message posted on Instagram. Everyone has been devastated by what transpired. We want you to know that we understand your suffering and are on your side.
He went on: "We have been working with the authorities in full and open cooperation since the beginning. As search and rescue operations continue with emergency personnel, volunteers, and employees from over 22 institutions, we stay in close contact with the Emergency Operations Centre (COE). It is estimated that the catastrophe claimed the lives of at least 218 individuals, and as rescue crews continue to work on the scene, the death toll keeps rising.
The fire service's chief, Jose Luis Frometa Herasme, declared, "Today we will finish the rescue effort." For two days, more than 300 rescue personnel looked behind steel bars and bricks for survivors and dead. Firefighters from Israel and Puerto Rico assisted them in their work. During the performance by renowned merengue singer Pérez, the venue is thought to have had between 500 and 1000 patrons. Sadly, although Pérez's daughter managed to escape the debris, her father, former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher Octavio Dotel, and Dominican outfielder Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera perished in the collapse.
