Burials begin as the search ends for victims in the Dominican nightclub
collapse that killed 221
[April 11, 2025]
By MARTÍN ADAMES ALCÁNTARA and DÁNICA COTO
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A merengue icon, a baseball
star and others killed when a cement roof collapsed at a popular
nightclub in the Dominican Republic were buried Thursday, as authorities
called off the search for bodies with the death toll at 221.
Mourners clad in black and white streamed into Santo Domingo’s National
Theater, where the body of singer Rubby Pérez lay inside a closed
coffin. Pérez had been performing on stage at the packed Jet Set club
early Tuesday when dust began falling from the ceiling and, seconds
later, the roof caved.
President Luis Abinader and first lady Raquel Arbaje arrived at the
theater and stood beside Pérez's coffin for several minutes. Some
mourners doubled over in tears as a recording of Pérez singing the
national anthem played. Renowned Dominican musician Juan Luis Guerra was
among those gathered to pay their respects.
Pérez, 69, had turned to music after a car accident left him unable to
pursue his dream of becoming a professional baseball player. He was
known for hits including “Volveré," which he sang with Wilfrido Vargas's
orchestra, and “Buscando tus besos" as a solo artist.
After a five-hour memorial, mourners released dozens of white balloons
outside the theater and spontaneously sang “Volveré” in unison. One
woman put her hand over her heart and patted it as she cried.
At the cemetery, Zulinka Pérez, one of his daughters, said: “I knew he
was loved but I never imagined this.”
The search for answers
Just blocks from the memorial for Pérez, heavy equipment began
withdrawing from the site where Jet Set once stood and rescue crews
packed up their equipment.
Meanwhile, a group of prosecutors arrived.
It is still unclear what caused the roof to collapse or when the
building was last inspected. The government has said it will launch a
thorough investigation, and the club’s owners have said they are
cooperating with authorities.
Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the Center of Emergency Operations,
broke down as he addressed reporters.
“Thank you, God, because today we accomplished the most difficult task
I’ve had in 20 years,” he said, moving the microphone away from his face
as he cried. Other officials patted him on the back as he continued,
“Please forgive me,” before passing the microphone to an army official.
Officials said 189 people were rescued alive from the rubble. More than
200 were injured, with 23 of them still hospitalized, including eight in
critical condition.
“If the trauma is too great, there’s not a lot of time” left to save
patients in that condition, said Health Minister Víctor Atallah. He and
other doctors said some of the injured suffered fractures to the skull,
femur and pelvis.
Exasperated families wait
Many people have been anxiously waiting for news of their loved ones,
growing frustrated with the drip-drip of information provided by
hospitals and the country’s forensic institute.
At least 146 bodies have been identified, authorities said Thursday.
María Luisa Taveras told TV station Noticias SIN that she was looking
for her sister.
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Family and friends grieve during the burial service for Marilenny
Pilarte who died at the Jet Set nightclub when its roof collapsed,
in Haina, Dominican Republic, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias
Delacroix)
“We have gone everywhere they have told us,” she said, her voice
breaking.
Taveras said the family has spread out, with a relative stationed at
each hospital and at the National Institute of Forensic Pathology.
Dozens of people waited at the institute Thursday, wearing face
masks and complaining about the smell as they demanded the release
of their loved ones' bodies.
“The odor is unbearable,” said Wendy Sosa, who has been waiting
since Wednesday morning for the body of her cousin, 61-year-old
Nilka Curiel González. Sosa told The Associated Press by phone that
the situation there was “chaotic,” and that officials had set up a
refrigerated container to handle the volume of bodies being
delivered.
She wept as she described her cousin as gracious, authentic, and
“very empathetic."
‘Life is but a breath’
Victims identified so far include former MLB players Octavio Dotel
and Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera; and Nelsy Cruz, the governor of the
northwestern province of Montecristi whose brother is seven-time
Major League Baseball All-Star Nelson Cruz.
Dotel was buried Thursday in Santo Domingo. Hundreds of people
attended his wake on Wednesday, including Hall of Famer David Ortiz,
formerly of the Boston Red Sox. Ortiz said the number of people who
attended Dotel’s wake spoke volumes.
“He was a person whom everyone loved,” Ortiz told reporters. “It’s
very hard, very hard, truly.”
MLB Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez attended another wake Thursday.
“There are no words to describe the pain we are all feeling,” said
Martínez, adding that he knew more than 50 of those who died. “Life
is but a breath.”
Also killed was a retired United Nations official; saxophonist Luis
Solís, who was playing onstage when the roof fell; New York-based
fashion designer Martín Polanco; the son and daughter-in-law of the
minister of public works; the brother of the vice minister of the
Ministry of Youth; and three employees of Grupo Popular, a financial
services company, including the president of AFP Popular Bank and
his wife.
More than 20 victims came from Haina, Rubby Pérez's hometown, just
southwest of Santo Domingo.
The governor held a communal wake, setting up 10 stands for coffins
beneath a banner that read: “Haina bids farewell to her beloved
children with immense sorrow.”
Among the mourners was Juancho Guillén, who lost his wife three
months ago and whose brother, sister and brother-in-law died at Jet
Set.
“This family is in shock, is devastated," he told Noticias SIN.
"We’re practically dead too.”
___
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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