Using heavy machines, drones, dogs and dozens of rescuers, those responsible worked frantically on Tuesday to find survivors of a deadly roof in a nightclub in the Dominican Republic, where the authorities said at least 67 people died.
The collapse occurred during a concert at Jet Set, a popular nightclub whose Monday evening dance evening was a tradition old decades frequented by a who’s who from Dominican society, many of which were still trapped inside.
Among those who are killed or injured, there was a governor, a member of the Congress of the Dominican Republic and two former American baseball players.
The officials said they were focused on rescues and had not yet started investigating the cause of the tragedy. The building, a former cinema, was at least 50 years old and had been the scene of a fire several years ago.
The authorities said that it was not clear how many people were inside at the time of collapse. The victims were always drawn from the rubble, alive and dead.
Each sinister update, the number of deaths has climbed.
Some people have received telephone calls from relatives inside, Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the emergency operations center, said in an Instagram video shared by the national police.
“We delete people we can save alive,” said Mr. Méndez. “You can hear people ask to be helped.”
In a series of social networks publicationssaid officials said the rescuers had made at least 155 trips to local hospitals.
So many people have been injured that ambulances were initially transporting two or three to the hospital at a time, said Mr. Méndez.
Jet Set, which has been open for over 45 years, is one of the most famous clubs in the Dominican Republic. He is particularly well known for his Monday showsA must of live music in the city.
Anxious family members gathered on the scene under a flamboyant sun, desperate for the news of their loved ones. Some people said they had up to seven parents missing after the disaster.
Several members of the Dominican Congress would have been inside the club, and several legislators went to the site.
Carlos J. Gil Rodríguez, who represents Santo Domingo at the Congress, was injured and had an emergency operation, said his office. His wife was injured and released from the hospital, but his two assistants who were also at the event were not found.
“My dear brother!” A woman shouted when he learned that her brother had not survived.
Another woman, Yeheris Ventura, sobbed by describing the anxiety of not hearing her husband, Gálver Silvestre, who was at the club and whose name was not among the list of survivors or the dead who had been broadcast.
Octavio Dotel, 51, a former launcher in the major leagues, was removed from the rubble and taken to a hospital in the region. He died later, the Professional Baseball League of the Dominican Republic announcement.
Another former player in the major baseball league, Tony Blanco, has also died, confirmed the commissioner of the Major Baseball League in a press release.
Monday’s show included Rubby Pérez, a singer from Merengue.
Videos circulated On social networks and verified by the New York Times, Mr. Pérez was performing in front of a group of revelers. The camera started to tremble and people started to cry while a large chandelier fell from the ceiling.
Another videoFilmed overnight and also verified by the Times, captured the extended destruction, showing that almost the whole roof had collapsed, rubble covering the scene and the dance floor while the rescuers rummaged the wreck.
Although the authorities announced that the singer was in the hospital, one of his brothers and sisters said that these reports were incorrect and that the artist remained in the rubble, 2 p.m. after collapse. Mr. Pérez was not located, confirmed Mr. Méndez on Tuesday afternoon.
The son of the Minister of Public Works of the country and his wife were also missing, the authorities said.
“But we hope in God and pray for favorable results,” said Minister, Eduardo Estrella, in a statement.
Among those of the nightclub, Nelsy M. Cruz Martínez, governor of the Dominican province Monte Cristi, an area in the northwest of the country near the border with Haiti.
Ms. Cruz called President Luis Abinader at 12:49 p.m., when she was trapped in the rubble, the First Lady, Raquel P. Arbaje, said journalists at the scene.
Ms. Cruz died later in a hospital, Mr. Abinader said In front of the club Tuesday morning.
“We deeply regret the tragedy that occurred in the jet set nightclub,” said Mr. Abinader said on x. “We have been following the one -minute incident since it has occurred.”
The Commissioner of Major League Baseball, Robert D. Manfred, Jr., published a statement offering condolences for the death of Ms. Cruz and the two former players, noting that Ms. Cruz was sister Nelson Cruz, a long -standing player and the current special advisor of the baseball operations league.
“The link between baseball and the Dominican Republic is deep, and we think of all Dominican players and fans through the match today,” he said.
Carlos Mendoza Díaz, President of the Dominican Association of Engineers, Architects and Surchanters, said that the Jet Set building had decades and had recently been damaged.
“We have collected information that it was not only a structure of more than 50 years, built for a cinema and later converted into a nightclub, and obviously these are different security parameters,” he said. “We also know that a fire occurred a few years ago, and perhaps the combination of these events could have caused collapse.”
Nader Ibrahim,, Amelia Nierenberg and Jonathan Wolfe contributed the reports.
