Hundreds of rescue workers in the Dominican Republic continue to search for survivors of a roof collapse at a nightclub in the capital, Santo Domingo, where 125 people died and more than 150 were injured.
Officials said the incident happened at the Jet Set club on Tuesday just before 01:00 local time (05:00 GMT).
Head of Emergency Operations Juan Manuel Méndez estimated that his team had “24 to 36 hours left“ to search for survivors under the rubble.
Hundreds of guests were inside the popular venue attending a concert by merengue singer Rubby Pérez.
Pérez, as well as former Major League Baseball players Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco, and a provincial governor are among those who have been confirmed dead.
Mobile phone footage recorded inside the club, verified by the BBC, shows Pérez on stage singing while the man recording can be heard talking.
“Something fell from the ceiling,“ the man recording says, his finger pointing towards the roof.
In the footage, Pérez can be seen looking towards the area pointed out by the man.
Less than 30 seconds later, a noise can be heard, and the recording goes black while a woman shouts, „Dad, what‘s happened to you?“
Relatives have been anxiously waiting for news of their loved ones.
It is unclear how many people were inside the popular venue, but estimates range between 500 and 1,000 people.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on X that at least one US national and multiple legal permanent residents were killed in the roof collapse.
He said that he and his wife, Jeanette, were „united in prayer“ and that the US stands „ready to support our Dominican allies amid this difficult time“.
Emergency workers have demolished one of the club‘s walls to better reach those still buried under the rubble.
Relatives desperate for news of their missing loved ones have been holding vigils at the scene.
Among them was Pérez‘s daughter Zulinka, a backing singer in his merengue band.
She described how she had been on stage, singing with her father when the tragedy unfolded.
Zulinka said she was saved by her husband, who shielded her with his body when the roof collapsed, telling her that she had to make it out „to be there for our son“.
She managed to crawl out from under the rubble, and her husband also made it out alive.
Her 69-year-old father, however, remained trapped for hours.
According to Zulinka, he survived the collapse and guided emergency workers to his location.
„They found him singing; he started to sing so they would hear him,“ she told local media.
But around 17:00 local time, more than 16 hours after the tragedy had occurred, Zulinka was informed by rescue workers at the scene that her father had died before they could free him.
His manager later confirmed his death.
Nelsy Cruz also survived the initial impact from the falling debris and was among the first to raise the alarm – by directly calling the president of the Dominican Republic.
The first call the 41-year-old governor of Monte Cristi province placed as she lay injured in the debris was to President Luis Abinader, asking him to send the emergency services to save those around her who were also severely damaged.
Their father said that only after Cruz called the president did Nelsy Cruz call her brother, Nelson Cruz, a seven-time Major League Baseball All-Star.
She later died in hospital from injuries she had sustained from falling glass.
Octavio Dotel, a former Major League Baseball pitcher, is also among those who died after being pulled from the debris.
The 51-year-old was rescued alive but died on the way to hospital.
It is not yet clear what caused Jet Set‘s roof to collapse.
The club was previously a cinema and had been turned into a music venue hosting regular dance music concerts on Monday nights.
The concerts drew people of all ages, and several athletes, celebrities, and politicians were in attendance on the day of the collapse.
President Abinader has declared three days of national mourning.
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