JetSet Club tragedy: 184 confirmed deaths

[Dolores]

As of almost 10pm on Wednesday, 9 April 2025, Center for Emergency Operations coordinator, Juan Manuel Mendez said the toll of the Jetset Club roof collapse is at 184 deaths. The number of deaths had climbed from 113 at 6am that morning.

When interviewed by Noticias SIN, Minister of Public Health Victor Atallah had said the high toll can be explained because most of the people were sitting or dancing when the roof collapsed on their heads. Most people died instantly.

The search and rescue operations for possible survivors and corpses at the JetSet Club at Av. Independencia is following international protocols and is carried out in three phases – search and rescue, rescue of corpses and investigation. Mendez said that the last live person was found at 3pm on 9 April. He said the search for survivors continues, while the efforts are mostly concentrated now on...

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[josh2203]

According to Diario Libre those numbers are not accurate anymore:

Sube a 218 la cifra de muertos por el colapso en la discoteca Jet Set

A la tragedia, ocurrida la medianoche del pasado martes en el Distrito Nacional, se suman 189 personas heridas que fueron trasladadas a centros de salud

www.diariolibre.com

 

[DrNoob]

🙏

 

[JD Jones]

The woman they found on April 9th passed away.

 

[josh2203]

The photo here shows that there's practically nothing left from the roof:

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/10/americas/dominican-republic-nightclub-roof-collapse-update-intl/index.html

RIP all the passed ones. This is horrible. Now the DR has been in the leading newspapers of my country twice recently...That practically never happens.

 

[NanSanPedro]

I could have missed it, but I've not seen any news about the owner who was in the USA. I know his PR folks did a statement the night it happened, but has he come back to the DR to face the music?

 

[JD Jones]

I could have missed it, but I've not seen any news about the owner who was in the USA. I know his PR folks did a statement the night it happened, but has he come back to the DR to face the music?

Yes, he is here on the island.

BTW, they started removing the large chunks of debris. Here's what it looks like this morning:

 

[Ecoman1949]

Yes, he is here on the island.

BTW, they started removing the large chunks of debris. Here's what it looks like this morning:

J.D. I wonder if samples of concrete, mortar, and rebar were taken from parts of the roof for testing analysis at a forensic lab before the debris was hauled away? I’m not an arson investigator but I do know that concrete and mortar exposed to high heat is subject to degradation that could affect it’s integrity.

I also know you don’t use rusty rebar for building and rebuilding. Concrete doesn’t adhere to it and the rusting Is accelerated even if it’s encapsulated in concrete. Any exposed rebar as a result of the fire in 2023 would be subject to rusting. It would need to be replaced to restore the integrity of the structure.

Given the amount of concrete construction in the DR, there has to be qualified experienced engineers who can determine the main cause of the collapse. Bringing in an arms length outside engineering consulting firm to determine the causes and/or confirm the investigation results might be in the government’s best interests. It’s more transparent and probably more acceptable to the many relatives of the dead and injured who are looking for answers.

The investigation, one that will go into the DR history books forever, could be President Abinader’s acid test and a negative or positive part of his legacy depending on the outcome. A lot of eyes, including the media‘s will be on him looking for solid answers. It’s in his best political interests to tread carefully with this one.

 

[JD Jones]

Whoops! You missed it!

An engineer was already been brought it to inspect the site and give his opinion on the structural integrity of the building.

Where were you?? (note sarcasm)

I expect there is going to be a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes activity happening on all fronts with this one due to the parties involved, and the desire to keep "bad" publicity to a minimum.

Remember the "Jazzy's" fire?

 

[Ecoman1949]

Whoops! You missed it!

An engineer was already been brought it to inspect the site and give his opinion on the structural integrity of the building.

Where were you?? (note sarcasm)

I expect there is going to be a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes activity happening on all fronts with this one due to the parties involved, and the desire to keep "bad" publicity to a minimum.

Remember the "Jazzy's" fire?

That’s a heavy responsibility for one engineer. I would have thought a multifaceted team of engineers, fire specialists, and concrete construction consultants would be at the site to determine the causes of the collapse. No one thing led up to this.

 

[JD Jones]

I agree. Woefully inadequate. I had a hard time believing what I was reading in the article. It may have been taken down; I can't seem to locate it.

 

[Ecoman1949]

I agree. Woefully inadequate. I had a hard time believing what I was reading in the article. It may have been taken down; I can't seem to locate it.

I agree. Not only woefully inadequate but an insult to the dead and the injured. The investigation has just started and it already has the appearance of cover up. If it’s true, the media will have a field day with this and the President can expect blowback.

 

[aarhus]

I agree. Not only woefully inadequate but an insult to the dead and the injured. The investigation has just started and it already has the appearance of cover up. If it’s true, the media will have a field day with this and the President can expect blowback.

I don't know much about an investigation like this. Sounds right how you describe it would have to be done. You say the inadequate investigation has the appearance of a coverup. What about it being also incompetence. Why would it be a coverup. There were influential people who died.

 

[MiamiDRGuy]

I found a doc file that someone created, it had exactly 472 people confirmed that was confirmed either alive or dead. Real scary

 

[Ecoman1949]

I don't know much about an investigation like this. Sounds right how you describe it would have to be done. You say the inadequate investigation has the appearance of a coverup. What about it being also incompetence. Why would it be a coverup. There were influential people who died.

Precisely because high profile DR citizens died. This could cause some damage to the President‘s legacy. The government will make every effort to keep negative publicity to a minimum. Speculation on my part but, if it’s true they are relying on the expertise of a single engineer to determine the cause, It enhances their ability to control the information flow generated by the investigation. Multiple agency investigations would be harder to control and they would have no control over an independent agency investigation which is what a disaster of this nature requires.

 

[JD Jones]

Precisely because high profile DR citizens died. This could cause some damage to the President‘s legacy. The government will make every effort to keep negative publicity to a minimum. Speculation on my part but, if it’s true they are relying on the expertise of a single engineer to determine the cause, It enhances their ability to control the information flow generated by the investigation. Multiple agency investigations would be harder to control and they would have no control over an independent agency investigation which is what a disaster of this nature requires.

I got the impression from the article that it was the owner who contacted the engineer for his opinion.

CYA, so to speak.

 

[keepcoming]

Precisely because high profile DR citizens died. This could cause some damage to the President‘s legacy. The government will make every effort to keep negative publicity to a minimum. Speculation on my part but, if it’s true they are relying on the expertise of a single engineer to determine the cause, It enhances their ability to control the information flow generated by the investigation. Multiple agency investigations would be harder to control and they would have no control over an independent agency investigation which is what a disaster of this nature requires.

Very much speculation on your part. You (we) do not know this for a fact. How could this cause damage to the President's legacy? Maybe they are trying to keep things to a minimum because people tend to run with every bit of information, they think they have. I am pretty sure there is a lot going on in private that we are not aware of. People are still burying their loved ones.

 

[aarhus]

Precisely because high profile DR citizens died. This could cause some damage to the President‘s legacy. The government will make every effort to keep negative publicity to a minimum. Speculation on my part but, if it’s true they are relying on the expertise of a single engineer to determine the cause, It enhances their ability to control the information flow generated by the investigation. Multiple agency investigations would be harder to control and they would have no control over an independent agency investigation which is what a disaster of this nature requires.

I lean more towards incompetence. What is the government authority overseeing an investigation like this ?

 

[Notengo]

So far there is a whole list of events that may have led to this disaster:

A roof built on columns allows for a lighter roof construction, take the columns away and the roof is out of spec and stress points are not supported.

There was weight added under the roof: a lot of pro light systems, trusses and line array speakers all hung on the roof. That’s a lot of weight.

There was weight added on top of the roof, big AC units and tinaco’s. When 1m3 water equals 1000KG, there might be many thousands of kg’s added weight on top.

Then there is talk of filtration and leakage of the roof. It was apparently 3 times cemented over, the last contractor apparently refused to do the job (because of the condition of the roof), unless the owner signed for responsibility.

With longtime filtration rebar will start to rust and expand, causing to crack the concrete and loosing strength (concrete rot).

There were none steel H beams in this structure. It’s a necessity with these wide spans combined with the purpose of this building.

Then there are questions about the damage of the previous fire, maintenance, structure inspection etc.

While each of these points is an issue, a combination is a recipe for disaster..

 

[MariaRubia]

So far there is a whole list of events that may have led to this disaster:

A roof built on columns allows for a lighter roof construction, take the columns away and the roof is out of spec and stress points are not supported.

There was weight added under the roof: a lot of pro light systems, trusses and line array speakers all hung on the roof. That’s a lot of weight.

There was weight added on top of the roof, big AC units and tinaco’s. When 1m3 water equals 1000KG, there might be many thousands of kg’s added weight on top.

Then there is talk of filtration and leakage of the roof. It was apparently 3 times cemented over, the last contractor apparently refused to do the job (because of the condition of the roof), unless the owner signed for responsibility.

With longtime filtration rebar will start to rust and expand, causing to crack the concrete and loosing strength (concrete rot).

There were none steel H beams in this structure. It’s a necessity with these wide spans combined with the purpose of this building.

Then there are questions about the damage of the previous fire, maintenance, structure inspection etc.

While each of these points is an issue, a combination is a recipe for disaster..

Also would the vibration of the speakers attached to the ceiling be a factor? Over a long period of time the vibration from bass booms may affect the structure? Or am I being stupid