Roof collapse at Dominican club kills at least 113 as officials scramble to identify victims

SANTO DOMINGO Dominican Republic AP The legendary Jet Set club in Santo Domingo was packed with musicians professional athletes and executive authorities when dust began falling from the ceiling and into people s drinks Minutes later the entire roof collapsed Concrete slabs killed more than people and trapped dozens of others on a dancefloor where hundreds had been dancing to a lively merengue concert early Tuesday More than people were injured agents stated The casualties include merengue icon Rubby P rez who had been crooning to the crowd before catastrophe struck disclosed emergency operations director Juan Manuel M ndez Rescue crews were still searching for prospective survivors on Wednesday more than hours after the collapse We re going to search tirelessly for people M ndez explained Late Tuesday night those still looking for their family and friends gathered around a man playing a guitar outside the club as they sang hymns So far only people have been identified in one of the worst disasters to hit the Dominican Republic Local media broadcasted that those who died include a cardiologist a regime architect a retired police officer and the brother of the vice minister of the Ministry of Youth Also killed was MLB pitcher Octavio Dotel and Dominican performer Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera Satosky Terrero spokesman for the country s Professional Baseball League narrated The Associated Press Nelsy Cruz the governor of the northwestern province of Montecristi and sister of seven-time Major League Baseball All-Star Nelson Cruz alerted President Luis Abinader about the mishap She called him from underneath the rubble but died later at a hospital Other casualties include saxophonist Luis Sol s who was playing onstage when the roof fell several Venezuelan bartenders and an Army captain who left behind four young girls Grupo Popular a financial services company explained three of its employees also died including the president of AFP Popular Bank and his wife But countless more remained unidentified I have been to plenty of hospitals and I have not discovered her commented Deysi Suriel of her friend -year-old Milca Curiel Suriel lives in North Carolina and was vacationing in the Dominican Republic Dozens of frantic relatives crowded at the country s National Institute of Forensic Pathology scanning a list of the victim s names while others went from hospital to hospital looking for their loved ones certain clutching pictures of them There s a lot of pain revealed Senator Daniel Rivera the country s former community vitality minister We need to have a lot of patience Among those searching for their relatives was Kimberly Jones whose godson -year-old artist Osiris Blanc and his friends were missing It was their favorite place they went there almost every Monday Jones disclosed adding that her niece also was missing It wasn t straightaway clear what caused the roof to collapse or when the Jet Set building was last inspected The club issued a declaration saying it was cooperating with executives A spokeswoman for the family who owns the club recounted The Associated Press that she passed along questions about feasible inspections Meanwhile a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Community Works referred questions to the mayor s office A spokesperson for the mayor s office did not respond to a message for comment