Paris Soir - At least 44 dead in Dominican Republic nightclub roof collapse

Some 400 rescue personnel combed through the ruins as trapped people cried out for help from the debris of what was the Jet Set nightclub in the Caribbean nation's capital Santo Domingo.

Dozens of ambulances ferried the injured to hospital, as scores of people gathered clamoring for news of their missing loved ones, who included renowned Dominican merengue singer Rubby Perez.

Perez, 69, was on stage when there was a sudden blackout and the roof came crashing down, according to eyewitness reports.

"It was sudden. I thought it was an earthquake, so I threw myself to the ground and covered my head," Enrique Paulino, Perez's manager, told reporters.

"One of our saxophonists is dead, we tried to get to the area where Rubby was but there was too much debris there," he said.

Perez's daughter Zulinka told reporters she had managed to escape after the roof collapsed, but he did not.

After many desperate hours without news, Zulinka later said she had confirmation that her father was "alive," though injured and still trapped in the debris.

Local media said there were between 500 and 1,000 people in the club when disaster struck.

Among the dead was the governor of the Monte Cristi municipality, Nelsy Cruz, who succumbed to her injuries in hospital, according to President Luis Abinader.

"Forty-four dead according to preliminary data so far. We continue to work," Juan Manuel Mendez, director of the Emergency Operations Center (COE), told journalists several hours into the operation.

He said the number of injured exceeded 100.

"As long as there is hope for life, all authorities will be working to recover or rescue these people," said Mendez.

- 'Hope for life' -

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. I asked the security officers... whether the ground had shaken," 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 the Dominican channel SIN. "They are not giving us news, they are not telling us anything."

At the scene, meanwhile, helicopter images revealed a large hole where the club's roof once was. A construction crane was helping lift some of the heavier rubble as men in hard hats dug through the debris.

The authorities have issued a call for Dominicans to donate blood.

"We are rescuing all the people we can save alive and recovering those bodies we find along the way. But we have focused on people we can rescue alive because we hear them asking for help," Mendez said.

"The main objective is to save lives," Abinader said as he arrived at the scene.

The Instagram page of the Jet Set club said it has been in operation for more than 50 years, with shows every Monday until the early hours.

Its last post before Monday's event invited fans to come and "enjoy his (Perez's) greatest hits and dance in the country's best nightclub."

On Tuesday, the club issued a statement saying it had "collaborated fully and transparently with the authorities to help the victims and clarify what happened."

The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, received over 11 million visitors in 2024, according to the tourism ministry.

Tourism generates about 15 percent of GDP, with visitors attracted by its Caribbean beaches, music and nightlife, as well as the colonial architecture of Santo Domingo.

X.Francois--PS