A total of 184 people have been killed in Jet Set nightclub roof collapse in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, while rescue workers have exhausted all their options to search for survivors from the debris, AFP reported. The celebration turned chaos on Tuesday, with the singer Rubby Perez who performed during the packed concert also among those dead.
An official statement read that “all reasonable possibilities of finding more survivors” had been finished; however, the focus of the operation will be to recover bodies. Head of the fire service Jose Luis Frometa Herasme said, “Today we will complete the rescue effort”. More than 300 rescue workers were involved, assisted by sniffer dogs, had spent two days combing through mounds of fallen bricks, tin sheets and steel bars, supported by firefighters from Puerto Rico and Israel.
Survivor recounts the collapse felt ‘like tsunami or earthquake’
A survivor Iris Pena informed local television that she made for the door after “dirt started falling like dust” into her drink and then a stone fell and cracked the table where she was sitting, adding “the impact was so strong, as if it had been a tsunami or an earthquake.”
Family members and kin of attendees express pain
Antonio Hernandez, whose son was employed at the Jet Set nightclub, informed AFP his hopes of looking for his son alive had started fading as he watched numerous bodies, but no survivors, being retrieved. “I don’t have the stomach to find out the worst yet,” he remarked.
Mercedes Lopez stated she was in a lot of pain as she waited to learn the fate of her son. “We haven’t found him on the lists or in the hospitals,” she lamented.
“I have been to many hospitals, and I have not found her,” Deysi Suriel said of her friend, 61-year-old Milca Curiel, a North Carolina resident who was on holiday in the Dominican Republic.
Kimberly Jones, whose godson, 45-year-old artist Osiris Blanc, and his friends were missing. “It was their favorite place, they went there almost every Monday,” she said, mentioning that niece was also missing.
High-profile casualties
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Octavio Dotel, 51, who debuted for the New York Mets in 1999 and played until 2013 for over a dozen teams, was declared dead, authorities said. Other casualties included Nelsy Cruz, Governor of Montecristi province and sister of Major League Baseball player Nelson Cruz, Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera.
Condolences pour in
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed sorrow on Wednesday and said at least one US citizen was among the victims. “Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones affected by this devastating event,” he posted on X. Pope Francis also sent condolences.
According to local media, there were between 500 and 1,000 people in the club that had a capacity of 1700.
(With inputs from agencies)
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