1 week Ago By The Telegraph
Credit: Reuters A former World Series winner is among those known to have died after a roof collapsed at a nightclub in the Dominican Republic. Octavio Dotel , a 51-year-old former Major League Baseball pitcher, was pulled from the debris of the Jet Set nightclub, in Santa Domingo, but died from his injuries on his way to hospital, according to reports. Nearly 100 people have been killed and more than 160 injured in the incident on Tuesday morning.
Hundreds of fans had gathered at the venue for a concert by Rubby Pérez, a popular Dominican merengue singer. A rescue operation is still ongoing with over 400 people searching for survivors. Juan Manuel Méndez, the director of the Emergency Operations Centre, said his crews were hopeful that many of those buried under the roof were still alive.
“We’re going to search tirelessly for people,” he said. Pérez was among those killed in the collapse, his manager said, as well as a provincial governor. Enrique Paulino told reporters that the concert began shortly before midnight, with the roof collapsing almost an hour later.
“It happened so quickly. I managed to throw myself into a corner,” he said, adding that he initially thought it was an earthquake. Jet Set was a popular nightclub in the country’s capital that regularly hosted live dance music concerts on Monday evenings.
Video footage thought to be taken inside the club shows people sitting at tables in front of the stage and dancing to the music while Pérez sings. In a separate clip shared on social media, a man standing next to the stage can be heard saying “something fell from the ceiling”, while pointing towards the roof. Pérez, also appears to look towards the same area.
Credit: X/@Sudhirntv Less than 30 seconds later, a noise can be heard and the recording goes black while a woman is heard shouting: “Dad, what’s happened to you?” The club issued a statement saying it was co-operating with authorities. Antonio Espaillat, the club owner who was out of the country at the time of the incident, said: “There are no words to express the pain this event has caused. What happened has been devastating for everyone.
” Luis Abinader, the country’s president, visited the scene to offer his support to friends and family looking for their loved ones. He wrote on X that all rescue agencies are “working tirelessly” to help those affected. “We deeply regret the tragedy that occurred at the Jet Set nightclub,” he said.
“We have been following the incident minute by minute since it occurred.”.
