155 others were injured in the accident in the club Jet Set in the capital Santo Domingo, as the head of disaster protection, Juan Manuel Méndez, said. The number of victims could continue to increase. Rescue workers searched feverishly in the ruins.
Parts of the roof had plunged onto the celebrants during a concert by the Merengue singer Rubby Pérez. According to media reports, the 69-year-old 69-year-old musician popular in Latin America is also said to be among the injured. His daughter Zulinaka said that she was confirmed hours after the accident that her father was “alive”. But he was injured and is still stuck in the rubble.
According to media reports, the Dominican baseball player Octavio Dotel was among the dead. He had therefore been recovered from the ruins, but succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital. The governor of the province of Montecristi, Nelsy Cruz, also died in the accident. Her brother, the professional baseball player Nelson Cruz, wrote in a funeral notice on Instagram with love and determination.
The cause of the accident was initially unclear. The authorities initially did not share how many people had stayed on the night club at the time of the accident. In media reports there was talk of 500 to 1000 guests.
“It happened all suddenly. I thought there was an earthquake, so I threw myself on the floor and covered my head,” said the singer’s manager, Enrique Paulino. “One of our saxophonists is dead. We tried to get to Rubby, but the debris there were too big,” he reported.
The eyewitness Iris Peña reported in the Dominican television station Sin that she and her son saved herself out of the building in good time. At first, cleaning from the ceiling “fell like dust into the drink on the table”, Peña reported. Then a stone crashed into the table. “The impact was as violent as if it had been a tsunami or an earthquake,” said the woman.
“As long as there is still hope, we continue to work”
Around 400 helpers searched for spilled under the ruins. Among other things, thermal imaging cameras were used. “As long as there is still hope, we continue to work. There are signs that let us believe that there could still be survivors,” said Méndez. Numerous people donated blood for the injured.
After the accident, the club explained that it “fully and transparently” worked with the authorities, “to help the victims and to clarify what happened”.
President Luis Abincer visited the scene of the accident. “We deeply regret the tragedy in the Jet Set discotheque,” he wrote on the news platform X. “All emergency services provide the necessary support and work tirelessly on the rescue. Our prayers apply to the families of those affected.”
Source: Nachrichten
