Judge Fernando Arturo Abreu ordered periodic presentation and impediment to leave the country to the two owners (Jesús María Sánchez Lantigua and Jorge Alberto Rosario Marte) of the Multi Muebles furniture and appliances store in La Vega. The building of the store collapsed killing one employee and injuring three others on 18 January 2023.
The judicial body accuses the owners of the collapsed building of violating articles 319 and 320 of the Dominican Penal Code, which punish involuntary manslaughter and those who cause involuntary blows or wounds.
The prosecution file says there is violation of Decree 670-2010, Regulation R-021, General Regulation of Buildings and Processing of Plans (Decree 576-06), Law 687-82, on regulations for renovations, and Practice of Engineering, Architecture and Surveying and Related Professions Law 62-00.
The collapse of the building that housed the company R & S Multi Muebles, S.R.L. occurred on 18 January 2023, in Las Carreras Street, corner Sanchez of the municipality of La Vega, La Vega province, at approximately 12:05 in the afternoon.
30-year old Yasiris Joaquín de Jesús was crushed by rubble under the collapsed four-floor building. Three other young female employees were injured but able to get out alive.
The authorities say evidence obtained during the course of the investigation makes it reasonable to presume that construction works were being carried out there without the permits of the Dominican College of Engineers and Architects (Codia) or of the Urban Planning Department of the Mayor’s Office of La Vega, which are the competent authorities to authorize any type of construction or modification.
They explain that the demolitions and modifications, in addition to having been executed without the authorizations of the bodies provided for by the laws and regulations, were carried out with employees inside the structure, which caused that at the time of the collapse, several employees were crushed in the rubble, among them Yasiris Joaquín de Jesús, who died and her colleagues who were injured in different parts of their bodies.
They specify that the accused did not observe the corresponding measures of care or precautionary measures, committing an illegal act which, although it was not carried out with malice aforethought, but due to the carelessness and non-application of the rules, their conduct is framed as a crime punishable by the Penal Code.
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Attorney General Office
20 February 2023