Prosecutors in the Dominican Republic announced Thursday that they had arrested the owners of a nightclub that collapsed in April, killing 236 revellers, on manslaughter charges.
Antonio Espaillat and his sister Maribel Espaillat were detained after the roof of the Jet Set club collapsed in the early hours of April 8 during a merengue artist Rubby Pérez show.
Perez, 69, was one of the victims of Central America’s biggest catastrophe in decades, along with two retired Major League Baseball players and a province governor.
Antonio Espaillat, a 59-year-old businessman, later revealed that the roof of the storied venue had been leaking for years but had never been investigated by officials.
The prosecutor’s office charged him and his sister with “immense irresponsibility and negligence” for failing to fix the roof.
There is no law in the Dominican Republic requiring safety inspections for privately held structures.
Following the disaster, President Luis Abinader announced that the administration was draughting legislation to make inspections necessary.
The Espaillat family owns a media empire, a restaurant, and the Jet Set. The family has agreed to help with the investigation.
They have been the subject of over 50 lawsuits filed by victims’ relatives.
