At least 98 dead after roof collapse at Dominican Republic nightclub during performance

Authorities reported 93 ambulance transfers to area hospitals, with search and rescue operations ongoing.

“Our city wakes up to a terrible tragedy,” wrote Santo Domingo Mayor Carolina Mejía de Garrigó on X, expressing condolences and confirming activation of the national disaster response committee.

Rescue workers search for survivors at the Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. (AP Photo/Eddy Vittini)

Nearly 12 hours after the top of the nightclub collapsed onto patrons, rescue crews were still pulling out survivors from under the debris, shushing those around them so they could listen for faint cries for help.

Firefighters removed blocks of broken concrete and used sawed pieces of wood as planks to lift heavy debris as the noise of drills breaking through concrete filled the air.

The Professional Baseball League of the Dominican Republic posted on X that former MLB pitcher Octavio Dotel, 51, also died.

Officials had pulled Dotel from the debris earlier and brought him to a hospital. Also killed was Dominican baseball player Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera, said league spokesman Satosky Terrero.

(with inputs from AP)

From the homepage

In Bihar poll results tomorrow, 3 pillars of NDA’s hopes: Nitish, Mahila vote, social arithmetic edge

Mahagathbandhan’s calculation: Caste maths, with Tejashwi as a plus

How Japan shrugged off its Rare Earths dependency on China