The sudden collapse of the roof at the Jet Set nightclub in the Dominican Republic, which tragically killed more than 200 people during a concert, has left the country searching for answers.
More than 300 rescuers, aided by sniffer dogs, had worked tirelessly since disaster struck early Tuesday to pull survivors from the rubble of the club, even as dozens of people remained unaccounted for.
They called off the search for live victims on Wednesday night and shifted their efforts to recovering bodies from the mounds of twisted steel, zinc and brick that remain of the structure.
Why did the Dominican Republic nightclub’s roof collapse?
While the government vowed a thorough investigation, experts believe that the cause of the disaster was a combination of insufficient structural support and long-term damage from a fire nearly two years ago.
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An aerial view of the disaster site shows air conditioning machines and power generators weighing tons lying among the roof rubble, emphasising just how much weight the structure was supporting.
Persio Diaz, a civil engineering professor at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, explained the collapse by comparing it to an overload on a person’s body: “Imagine you put two or three 42.5-kilogram (93.7-pound) cement bags on your head… your feet are not going to hold,” he said, adding, “The supports were not sufficient to withstand the loads.”
“If you overload a structure, it will not support you,” he added.
Diaz, pointing out to 2023 fire at the nightclub, said that “when a structure like that is affected by a severe fire, the durability of the concrete deteriorates significantly” and it “turns into a kind of weak concrete.”
He also pointed out that steel corrodes with time, and the high humidity in the Caribbean can affect the soundness of building materials over time.
Architect Garivalddy De Aza analyzed photos of the roof slab on Instagram and observed “not a single column to relieve the load” of the structure. “The roof collapsed under its weight,” he concluded.
De Aza said there appeared to have been “a lack of planning in the building’s growth.”
Juan Villar Gonzalez, a former president of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors, said the building also lacked circulation and emergency doors.
“There has been little supervision,” noted Villar, adding that the tragedy needed to be studied in detail and lessons learnt to prevent another in future.
What happened at the Jet Set nightclub on Tuesday?
In the early hours of Tuesday, chaos erupted at the Jet Set Club, a popular venue in the heart of Santo Domingo, after its roof collapsed. This occurred nearly an hour after a merengue concert by renowned artist Rubby Pérez.
Several politicians and athletes were among those attending the concert.
Nelsy Cruz, the governor of Monte Cristi province and sister of seven-time Major League Baseball All-Star Nelson Cruz, was the first person to alert Dominican President Luis Abinader about the disaster.
She called him and said she was buried under the debris, according to First Lady Raquel Abraje.
Renowned Dominican merengue singer Rubby Perez, who was on stage at the popular Jet Set nightclub when the roof caved in shortly after midnight, was one of those caught up in the calamity.
However, the singer’s manager, Enrique Paulino, whose shirt was spattered with blood, said the group’s saxophonist had died. Bray Vargas, a legislator who represents the northern province of Santiago, was also rescued.
