A roof collapsed at a nightclub in the Dominican Republic, killing at least 15 people.
Many more people are hurt, and rescue teams are currently working to extricate them from the rubble.
It is unclear what caused the incident, which occurred early Tuesday morning during a concert by popular merengue artist Rubby Pérez at the Jet Set discotheque in Santo Domingo.
The president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, has offered his sympathy to the afflicted families.
The head of the Emergency Operations Centre (COE), Juan Manuel Méndez, stated that rescue teams were still searching for survivors beneath the wreckage.
He claimed that ambulances had made over 100 journeys to the area’s hospitals, sometimes transporting multiple patients. Officials are currently determining the total number of persons injured.
The preliminary number of those dead is 15.
Mr Méndez expressed hope that many of those buried under the fallen roof were still alive.
Jet Set is a prominent nightclub in the capital that features dance music concerts every Monday evening.
Video footage purportedly recorded inside the club shows customers seated at tables in front of the stage and dancing to the music in the rear while Rubby Pérez performs.
A separate mobile phone clip uploaded on social media shows a man standing next to the stage claiming “something fell from the ceiling” while pointing to the roof.
In the footage, singer Rubby Pérez also seems to be looking towards the area pointed out by the man.
Less than 30 seconds later, a noise is heard, and the recording goes black, with a woman shouting, “Dad, what’s happened to you?”
“I thought it was an earthquake,” the musician said.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
