Time may have run out for people trapped under the collapsed roof of a nightclub, where no one has been pulled alive from the rubble since Tuesday.
National icon Rubby Pérez was an hour into singing on stage when Jet Set’s roof caved in on Monday night in the Dominican Republic’s capital Santo Domingo.
The steadily climbing death toll has now reached 221, among them Pérez, who sang to help rescuers find him before he died.Another 189 people have been rescued, but search teams believe it is increasingly unlikely any more will be found alive.
‘We’ve practically combed ground zero, there’s only a little bit left to look at’, Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the country’s Emergency Operations Center, said today.
Rescuers confirmed the search for survivors at Jet Set Club in the Dominican Republic’s capital Santo Domingo would end yesterday, when the official death toll was 184.
‘Having exhausted any reasonable possibility of finding more survivors, the operation is now in a different phase, nonetheless sensitive and crucial: the recovery of human bodies with due respect and the dignity that every victim deserves’, the EOC said in a statement today.
Shailyn Peña, 17, was among those holding out hope for her father Máximo.
‘I feel the urge to just go in there and push aside all the rocks and pull him out’, she said.
‘But as much as I want to, I really can’t. I just have to sit here and wait it out.’
Coming here every Monday for 30 years, ‘it was just another Monday night’ for Máximo.
Shailyn said: ‘My dad invited my mum to come too but at the last minute she decided not to go. It was a blessing in disguise.’
Yesterday, it was revealed musician Rubby Pérez was crushed by the roof of a nightclub and sang to rescue workers to help them find him before he died from his injuries.
For hours it was unclear if he was alive – early reports suggested he was missing – until he could be heard under the rubble.
‘It was because he was trapped singing that they found him’, his daughter Zulinka said.
Pérez later died in hospital. Local media called him ‘the loudest voice of merengue’, a style of music described as ‘the DNA of the homeland’.
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Rescue teams spent two days pulling bodies and bloodied survivors from tangled metal and crushed concrete before it was announced the search would end on Wednesday.
Among the dead were former Major League Baseball players Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco, along with Pérez’s saxophone player, Luis Solis.
Blanco reportedly saved his friend and former teammate Esteban Germán in the moments before he died, according to local reporter Héctor Gómez.
‘[Germán] was returning from the bathroom and, before sitting down at the table, Tony Blanco pushed him when he realized part of the ceiling was about to fall on him’, Gómez reported.
‘Unfortunately, Blanco didn’t suffer the same fate as Germán and died seconds later.’
Footage from inside Jet Set showed Pérez on stage belting notes while the audience dance and filmed on cameras, right until the moment the roof collapsed. At that point the video cut out, with the last thing heard a scream.
‘It happened so quickly,’ Pérez’s manager Enrique Paulino said. ‘I managed to throw myself into a corner.’
Trapped beneath the concrete, some made desperate pleas for help before they died.
Among them was provincial governor Nelsy Cruz – the sister of another MLB star Nelson Cruz – who called the president to alert him.
Her family said: ‘She served in life with dedication, commitment, and love for her people and her community.’
Speaking 14 hours into the search effort, before Pérez had been found, his brother Micaías said: ‘We only trust that the grace of God really will work a miracle.’
It is not yet clear what caused the roof collapse at Jet Set, which caught fire in 2023 after lightning struck its power supply.
Today Jet Set – described as the country’s ‘place of reference’ by Billboard magazine – said the ‘tragedy struck a deep note in the hearts of all of us’.
In a statement, the club said: ‘The loss of life leaves us in a state of profound pain and dismay.
‘In this difficult time, our prayers are with each of the affected families. We share their pain as if it were our own because we are also in mourning.
‘We are collaborating fully and transparently with the relevant authorities to assist the victims and clarify what happened.’
Rescue teams continue to pull bodies from the rubble, but it is not yet clear how many still trapped inside will survive.
Juan Manuel Mendez, director of the Centre of Emergency Operations, said: ‘We presume that many of them are still alive, and that is why the authorities here will not give up until not a single person remains under that rubble.’
President Luis Abinader wrote on X: ‘We deeply regret the tragedy that occurred at the Jet Set nightclub. We have followed the case minute by minute since it happened.
‘All relief agencies have provided the necessary assistance and are working tirelessly in the rescue efforts. Our prayers are with the affected families.’
