Home World Owner of Dominican club whose roof collapsed and killed 236 is arrested

Owner of Dominican club whose roof collapsed and killed 236 is arrested

Rescue workers search for bodies at the Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April.

Rescue workers search for bodies at the Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed during a merengue concert in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April. Matias Delacroix/AP hide caption

toggle caption

Matias Delacroix/AP

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — The owner of an iconic nightclub in the Dominican Republic whose roof collapsed in April and killed 236 people was arrested Thursday along with his sister.

Antonio Espaillat and Maribel Espaillat have not been charged in the case, although authorities have 48 hours to present any charges before a judge.

“Both defendants displayed immense irresponsibility and negligence by failing to physically intervene to prevent the club’s roof from collapsing, as it ultimately did, causing 236 deaths and more than 180 injuries,” the Dominican Republic’s Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.

Prosecutors accused the Espaillats of trying to intimidate or manipulate company employees, adding that they could serve as witnesses in the case. Antonio Espaillat is considered a powerful businessman in the Dominican Republic; he owns upscale entertainment centers and dozens of local radio stations.

Sponsor Message

Miguel Valerio, the Espaillats’ attorney, told reporters that he expects to have access to the prosecutors’ evidence in upcoming days.

“This is an involuntary homicide,” he said. “Nobody wanted that to happen.”

The Espaillats were arrested after being interrogated for several hours.

Altanto TV, a local digital news channel, posted an interview with a man they identified as former Jet Set employee Gregory Adamés. The channel said he gave prosecutors videos and conversations with Antonio Espaillat in which he warned that the April 7 party shouldn’t be held because the roof could collapse.

Adamés said in a video posted on Instagram that he would hold the Espaillat family responsible if he disappears or is shot or involved in an accident.

“If something happens to me, it’s clear where it came from,” he said. “My intention is not to hurt anyone, only that the truth be known.”

A government-appointed committee that includes international experts is still investigating what caused the roof to collapse.

Crews worked for 53 hours nonstop after arriving on the scene in Santo Domingo shortly after midnight on April 8, rescuing 189 survivors.

The victims included beloved singer Rubby Pérez, who was performing when the roof caved in, and Nelsy Cruz, the governor of Montecristi province and sister of seven-time Major League Baseball All-Star Nelson Cruz.

Also killed was former MLB pitcher Octavio Dotel, who was pulled from the debris but died in hospital, and Dominican baseball player Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera.

Sponsor Message

Other victims include a retired U.N. official, New York-based fashion designer Martín Polanco, an Army captain who left behind four young girls, and three employees at Grupo Popular, a financial services company, including the president of AFP Popular Bank and his wife.

The relatives of several survivors have filed lawsuits against Antonio Espaillat.

The club, which had operated for nearly five decades, was known for its Monday night merengue parties that attracted international celebrities and high-profile Dominicans.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Must Read

Firefighters race to contain wildfires in Greece as thousands evacuated

Firefighter uses a hose as the try to extinguish the blaze near the town of Ierapetra on the south coast of Crete island, Greece on Thursday as a fast-moving wildfire prompted authorities to clear villages and coastal areas, officials said. STR/AP/INTIME NEWS hide caption toggle caption STR/AP/INTIME NEWS ATHENS, Greece — Firefighters battled blazes Thursday

U.K. High Court slams MI5 over informant deception and lack of transparency

The entrance to the headquarters of MI5, Britain's domestic intelligence agency, in London. LH Images/Alamy hide caption toggle caption LH Images/Alamy LONDON — A High Court ruling in London Wednesday has cast a critical spotlight on Britain's MI5 domestic intelligence agency. A ruling by a three-judge panel at London's High Court cited the agency's failure

China Works to Dominate in AI and EV

Enlarge this image A data worker tags location and navigation information, data that is being used to train a self-driving car application that uses artificial intelligence. Aowen Cao/NPR hide caption toggle caption Aowen Cao/NPR A data worker tags location and navigation information, data that is being used to train a self-driving car application that uses

How the Irish band Kneecap went from rising hip-hop group to global lightning rod

Mo Chara, DJ Próvaí and Móglaí Bap of Kneecap during day four of Glastonbury festival. Leon Neal/Getty Images/Getty Images Europe hide caption toggle caption Leon Neal/Getty Images/Getty Images Europe LONDON - When Kneecap performed at Glastonbury music festival this year — a performance that the British Prime Minister opposed before the band even took the

Rescuers search for survivors after ferry sinking near Bali, Indonesia

In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) rescuers search for victims after a ferry enroute for the resort island of Bali sank off Ketapang, East Java, Indonesia on Thursday. BASARNAS/AP/BASARNAS via AP hide caption toggle caption BASARNAS/AP/BASARNAS via AP JAKARTA, Indonesia — Rescuers were searching Thursday for 32 people