Frantic search for survivors as roof collapse in Dominican Republic kills at least 98

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic — The death toll in Tuesday’s nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic kept steadily rising as rescue workers using heavy machinery, drones and dogs worked into the night to find survivors.

By late Tuesday, at least 98 people had died, after the roof suddenly caved in around 12:45 am during a concert at Jet Set, a popular nightclub in Santo Domingo. Its Monday night dance party was a decades-old tradition frequented by a who’s who of Dominican society — many of whom were still trapped inside.

Among those either killed or injured during the merengue concert were a governor, a member of the Dominican Republic’s Congress and two former US Major League Baseball players.

“There are not enough words to express the pain this event causes,” the club’s owner, Antonio Espaillat, said in a video posted on social media. “What happened has been devastating for everyone.”

Officials said they were focused on rescues and had not yet begun to investigate the cause of the tragedy. The building, a former movie theater, was at least 50 years old and had been the scene of a fire several years ago.

Authorities said it was unclear how many people were inside at the time of the collapse. Victims were still being pulled from the rubble, alive and dead.

By late Tuesday evening, the National Institute of Forensic Sciences had received 98 bodies, according to its director, Santos Jiménez.

In a series of social media posts, officials said rescuers made at least 155 trips to local hospitals.

So many people were injured that ambulances initially had to carry two or three to the hospital at a time, Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the Emergency Operations Center, said in an Instagram video shared by the national police.

“We are taking out the people we can rescue alive,” Méndez said. “You can hear people asking to be helped.”

Anxious family members gathered at the scene, desperate for news of their loved ones. Some said they had up to seven relatives missing following the disaster.

“We deeply regret the tragedy that occurred at the Jet Set nightclub,” President Luis Abinader posted on the social media platform X. “We have been following the incident minute by minute since it occurred.”