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.
Story continues below advertisement
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 roof may collapse.
1:10
Death toll from Dominican Republic nightclub roof collapse rises to 124
Espaillat was detained on Thursday after attending a hearing at the attorney general's office in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo, his lawyer, Jorge Luis Polanco, confirmed.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
Maribel Espaillat, Antonio's sister, who managed the club, has also been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
View image in full screen
Members of special police forces take Maribel Espaillat, sister of businessman Antonio Espaillat, into custody in Santo Domingo on June 15, 2025. STR / Getty Images
In a statement published by the New York Times, the attorney general's office wrote that the siblings 'demonstrated immense irresponsibility and negligence by failing to do what was necessary to ensure that the Jet Set Club's roof was adequately and expertly repaired,' adding that they had attempted to 'manipulate or intimidate' employees who could have been potential witnesses.
Story continues below advertisement
View image in full screen
Aerial view shows rescue teams working at the Jet Set nightclub a day after the collapse of its roof in Santo Domingo on April 9, 2025. Rescuers raced to find survivors among the rubble of the nightclub where at least 124 people, including a former Major League Baseball star, were killed when the roof collapsed. Alfred Davies/ Getty Images
It did not provide additional details.
In an interview shortly after the disaster, Espaillat appeared to express remorse, telling the media that he was 'destroyed' by the fatal incident that killed 236 people, adding that if he could have prevented the collapse, he would have.
'There was no warning, nothing. We were all surprised,' he said.
'I'm going to face everything,' he added. 'I'm not going anywhere.'
Espaillat did not attend the scene during rescue efforts over concerns for his safety, as angry crowds had gathered at the site.
The club, which was founded 52 years ago by Espaillat's mother, Ana Grecia López, when he was just six years old, had become a pillar of the city's nightlife and was frequented by many high-profile individuals.
Story continues below advertisement
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 that.
— With files from the Associated Press
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
19 minutes ago
- Global News
Man acquitted after B.C. judge rules he ‘likely' slashed woman but Crown couldn't prove it
A man accused of slashing a woman in the face in an apparent stranger attack in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside has been acquitted, even though the judge ruled it was 'more likely than not' that he was the accused. In a ruling delivered Thursday, Provincial Court Judge G.M. Rideout concluded that while it was possible Shone Robert Selbie was the attacker caught on CCTV, the evidence wasn't good enough to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. 'It wasn't me,' Selbie told Global News outside the court. 'That's why the judge found me innocent.' 'I look like the person in the video,' he added. Selibe, who turns 52 this year, had been charged with a single count of aggravated assault in Aug. 11, 2024 attack in the 400 block of Cordova Street that left a woman with a serious laceration on her cheek. Story continues below advertisement 1:53 Vancouver machete attacker sentenced CCTV footage captured from two social housing buildings on the block depicts a man hunched over and swaying and holding a box cutter in his hand. In the video, he can be seen putting a woman into a headlock, appearing to slash her face, and then casually walking away. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The case hinged on the identity of the accused, and the Crown's ability to prove it. At trial, the Crown pointed to the CCTV images themselves, along with testimony from a Vancouver police officer who had interacted with Selbie twice that summer and identified him in court from the images. At trial, prosecutors argued Selbie had a distinctive face with prominent features, including crooked and pointy nose, high cheekbones, and sunken cheeks with deep-set eyes. On the stand, the officer further testified he was '100 per cent certain' Selbie was the person depicted in the CCTV images that had been compiled into a police information bulletin. Story continues below advertisement Selbie's defence argued the CCTV footage was of average quality, and never caught a clear full facial image of the attacker. It also noted that the officer had pointed to the attacker's Nike shoes as a distinctive identifying characteristic, but had incorrectly described the logo on them as black when it was actually white. 0:54 Vancouver police safety trailer vandalized in Downtown Eastside In acquitting Selbie, Rideout agreed the CCTV footage shows someone with a pointed nose, but acknowledged it never caught a full facial view of the suspect. 'Clearly there are some physical characteristics of the suspect in the CCTV footage consistent with the accused's appearance in court,' he ruled. 'I am unable to say with any confidence that the suspect in the CCTV footage is the accused before this court.' Story continues below advertisement The identifying officer, he added, does not have any special training in identification, and 'agreed in cross-examination that some of the characteristics he identifies as distinctive to the accused can also apply to other individuals.' Rideout noticed that in the CCTV footage, the suspect had a distinctive walk, a 'physical hunch-like walk consistent with drug addicts' known in the Downtown Eastside as the 'benzo gait.' The identifying officer, he said, never noticed anything distinctive about Selbie's gait in the two interactions he had with the accused that summer. 0:30 Vancouver police officer slashed with knife in Downtown Eastside Those interactions, together, lasted for about 45 minutes — not enough for his level of familiarity with Selbie to rise to the level of being 'so well acquainted' with him to make his identification 'certain and safe,' Rideout said. 'His recognition evidence is insufficiently reliable to assist the court in identifying the accused as the suspect in the identification bulletin,' Rideout ruled. Story continues below advertisement That led the judge to conclude that while Selbie was more likely than not the attacker, the Crown hadn't met the threshold of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. 'The inherent frailties of identification evidence are well known to the law and have been the subject of frequent judicial consideration and comment,' he said, quoting a legal precedent. 'We must, however, never regard these principles as trite. They are fundamental.'
Global News
2 hours ago
- Global News
Support grows for search of Regina landfill for missing Indigenous woman
More and more people are joining the call for the City of Regina and Regina Police to search the landfill in hopes of discovering missing women from Regina. Global News' Andrew Benson has more on the family and supporters of the Bear family, all hoping for closure and dignity. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Check out the video at the top of the page for the full story. View image in full screen Richele Bear went missing in 2013. Andrew Benson / Global News
Global News
4 hours ago
- Global News
Jet skier fined $5,000 for dolphin encounter near Vancouver Island
A man seen speeding on a Jet Ski towards a pod of Pacific white sided dolphins has been fined $5,000 and has been banned from posting anything related to marine mammals on social media. The man was found guilty last November in B.C. provincial court for violating marine mammal regulations after his trial heard he raced towards the pod and came within metres of them while filming on his cellphone. Witnesses said the man, who was in the waters near Port McNeill off northeastern Vancouver Island in August 2022, was much closer than the 100-metre legal distance required to stay away from dolphins. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The Fisheries Department says in a statement released Thursday that the court ruled in a decision last month that the man's actions were 'negligent and reckless.' The statement doesn't say how long the man will have to refrain from posting about marine mammals on social media, but he also faces a six-month prohibition from operating any motorized vessel on water. Story continues below advertisement It says the case is the first successful prosecution in Canada under Marine Mammal Regulations over distance provisions keeping vessels away from marine wildlife. It statement says dolphins and killer whales relying on echolocating to navigate their environment and close encounters with a vessels can disrupt their natural behaviour and interfere with signals they use to forage and socialize.
