At least 89 killed in Dominican Republic nightclub roof collapse

Search operations are underway in the capital city of the Dominican Republic where the collapse of the roof of a nightclub resulted in the death of at least 89 people New York Times NYT reportedAs per the NYT heavy machinery and drones were being used in the large scale search and rescue operations taking place at the Jet Set nightclub in Santo DomingoDespite this the death toll in Tuesdays nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic kept steadily rising as efforts continued into the night in a frantic quest to find survivorsNYT reported that by late Tuesday at least 89 people had died after the roof suddenly caved in at about 1245 AM local time during a concert at Jet Set a popular nightclub in Santo Domingo Its Monday night dance party was a decadesold tradition frequented by a whos who of Dominican society many of whom were still trapped insideNYT reported that several people were killed or injured during the merengue concert including a governor a member of the Dominican Republics congress and two former US Major League Baseball playersNYT quoted the clubs owner Antonio Espaillat who said in a video posted on social media There are not enough words to express the pain this event causes What happened has been devastating for everyoneAccording to the NYT officials stated that 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 agoThe 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 deadJet Set which has been open for 50 years is one of the most famous clubs in the Dominican Republic It is especially well known for its Monday showsAmong those at the nightclub was Nelsy M Cruz Martinez the governor of the Dominican province Monte Cristi an area in the northwest of the country near the border with HaitiOctavio Dotel 51 a former pitcher in the Major Leagues was pulled from the rubble and taken to an area hospital He later died the Professional Baseball League of the Dominican Republic announced as cited by NYT Another former major league baseball player Tony Blanco also died the commissioner of Major League Baseball confirmed in a statementSeveral members of the Dominican Congress were thought to have been inside the club and several lawmakers went to the siteThe son of the countrys public works minister and his wife were also still missing the authorities saidCarlos Mendoza Diaz president of the Dominican Association of Engineers Architects and Surveyors said the Jet Set building was decades old and had recently been damagedWe have gathered information that it was not only a structure over 50 years old built for a movie theater and later converted into a nightclub and obviously these are different safety parameters he said We also know that a fire occurred a few years ago and perhaps the combination of these events could have caused the collapse he said as quoted by NYTThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params