Jet Set owners charged with involuntary homicide after deadly roof collapse

The owners of Jet Set, a popular nightclub in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where 236 people were killed when its roof collapsed during a live concert in early April, have been arrested and charged with involuntary homicide, the Dominican Republic’s attorney general’s office says.

The establishment’s roof collapsed in the small hours of April 8 with hundreds of concertgoers inside, prompting a multi-day search and rescue effort to find survivors and the deceased, the ordeal sparking outrage over the country’s substandard building safety codes.

Antonio Espaillat, a prominent Dominican businessman and the club’s owner, who also runs dozens of local radio stations and several entertainment hubs, was arrested on Thursday after a former employee presented evidence proving that he had advised the owners, including Espaillat, to cancel the concert because the roof of the building was in a dangerously poor condition, according to reports by The New York Times.

According to NBC News, the man identified himself as former Jet Set employee Gregory Adamés during an interview with Altanto TV, a local Dominican digital news channel, which says he provided prosecutors with video of conversations with Espaillat where he advised that the ill-fated party shouldn’t go ahead because the Покривът може да се срине.

Еспайлат беше арестуван в четвъртък, откакто участва на чуване в офиса на основния прокурор в доминиканския столица Санто Доминго, неговият юрист Хорхе Луис Поланко, доказан.

It remained in the same location for three decades before it collapsed in April with about 515 people inside, according to the owners.

The victims of the collapse included seven doctors, a retired United Nations official, former MLB players Octavio Dotel and Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera, and Nelsy Cruz, the governor of Montecristi province and sister of seven-time Major League Baseball All-Star Nelson Cruz, the AP reported.

It also killed merengue star Rubby Perez, who was performing when the roof caved in.

There is currently no government agency dedicated to inspecting the buildings of private businesses in the Dominican Republic, although President Luis Abinader announced after the collapse the introduction of new legislation, which is expected to change че.

- с файлове от Associated Press