11.04.2025 – (04:30 PM) Htate See

The death toll from the collapse of a nightclub roof in the Dominican Republic has risen to 184, rescue workers said on the evening of April 9.

“It is unfortunate that we have to inform you that according to the coroner’s report, the number of people we have recovered so far has reached 184,” said Juan Manuel Reménez, director of the Disaster and Emergency Operations Center.

Among the dead in the nightclub collapse was former Major League Baseball player and Dominican singer Rubio Perez, rescue workers said.

The famous Dominican singer was performing on stage at the Jet Set nightclub when the roof collapsed. The roof collapsed shortly after midnight on April 8 (early morning on April 9), Perez’s manager, Henrique Paulinho, told AFP.

More than 370 rescue workers searched for survivors among the rubble of collapsed bricks, steel bars and corrugated iron.

President Abinada visited the site of the collapse and declared three days of national mourning.

The injured were rushed to hospital and authorities appealed for blood donations as blood supplies were in short supply.

The death toll was reportedly being rushed to the scene by onlookers.

The Jet Set nightclub, where the roof collapsed, had been open for 50 years, the club’s Instagram page said.

Rescuers said they had finished retrieving survivors or bodies from the wreckage of the nightclub on April 9.

Officials said it was not clear how many people were inside the Jet Set club when the roof collapsed. However, local media reported that between 500 and 1,000 people were inside the nightclub when the roof collapsed. The club had a capacity of about 1,700.

The dead included singer Perez, two Dominican baseball players and a politician.

Ottovio Dotel, 51, who won the World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011 and played in Major League Baseball from 1999 to 2013, was rescued alive on April 9, but he later died from his injuries.