At least 15 people died after a ceiling collapsed in a nightclub in the Dominican Republic.
Many others are injured and rescue workers are still trying to free people from the rubble.
The cause of the accident, which occurred in the early hours of Tuesday during a concert by the famous Merengue singer Rubby Pérez in Discotheque at The Jet Set in the capital, Santo Domingo.
The President of the Dominican Republic, Louis Abenader, expressed his condolences to the affected families.
The director of the Emergency Operations Center (COE), Juan Manuel Mendes, said that rescue workers are still looking for people under the debris.
He added that ambulances have made more than 100 trips to the region’s hospitals, sometimes carrying more than one patient. Officials are still trying to determine the total number of injured people.
The first total of the dead is 15.
Mr. Méndez said he was hoping that many buried under the collapsed ceiling were still alive.
Jet Set is a famous nightclub in the capital regularly hosting dance concerts on Monday evenings.
It seems that the video footage taken inside the club shows people sitting on tables in front of the theater and some dancing on music at the back while singing Rubby Pérez sings.
In recording a separate mobile phone on social media, a man can be heard next to the theater, saying “something fell from the ceiling”, while his finger can be seen indicating the ceiling.
In the shots, the singer Rubby Pérez appears to be also looking forward to the area that the man referred to.
After less than 30 seconds, the noise can be heard and the recording becomes black while the woman hears screaming, “Dad, what happened to you?”
A member of Rubby Pérez told local media that the club was full when the collapse “at about one in the morning.”
“I thought it was an earthquake,” the musician said.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/5917/live/051a4b20-146f-11f0-90d3-7d5441ca7ed3.jpg