Rescuers raced to find survivors early yesterday after the roof of a Dominican Republic nightclub collapsed during a concert by popular singer Rubby Perez, one of about 100 people killed in the disaster.
Rescue workers were pressing on with the search effort that was limited more to recovering bodies from the rubble more than 24 hours after the roof caved in.
Renowned Dominican merengue singer Perez, who was performing at the Jet Set nightclub for hundreds of people when the roof collapsed shortly after midnight on Tuesday, was one of those killed, his manager said.
Photo: Reuters
Relatives of club-goers gathered around the disaster site in the capital Santo Domingo as rescuers ferried the injured to hospital, and used a crane to remove debris.
“We have some friends here, a niece, a cousin, some friends, who are in the rubble,” Rodolfo Espinal said as he waited for information about his loved ones.
About 370 rescue personnel combed mounds of fallen bricks, steel bars and tin sheets for survivors.
Also among the dead were former MLB players Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco.
Dotel, who was 51 years old, was rescued alive, but later died of his injuries, local media reported.
A black-and-white photo of Dotel and images of the Dominican flag were projected onto the scoreboard at Citi Field in New York before Tuesday’s game between the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins.
“Peace to his soul,” the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League wrote in separate social media posts paying tribute to the two ex-players.
Local media said there were 500 to 1,000 people in the club when disaster struck. The club has capacity for about 1,700 people.
Perez was on stage when there was a blackout and the roof came crashing down, eyewitness reports said.
Perez’s daughter, Zulinka, told reporters she had managed to escape after the roof collapsed, but he did not.
Also among the dead was Monte Cristi Governor Nelsy Cruz, Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader said.
He declared three days of national mourning.
By early yesterday, the preliminary death toll had reached 98, Dominican Republic Emergency Operations Center Director Juan Manuel Mendez said.
Iris Pena, a woman who had attended the show, told SIN television how she escaped with her son.
“At one point, dirt started falling like dust into the drink on the table,” she said.
“A stone fell and cracked the table where we were, and we got out,” Pena recounted. “The impact was so strong, as if it had been a tsunami or an earthquake.”
Dozens of family members flocked to hospitals for news.
“We are desperate,” Regina del Rosa, whose sister was at the concert, told SIN. “They are not giving us news, they are not telling us anything.”
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