Family seeks homicide charges against owners of collapsed Dominican nightclub

by Sauro Scalella

The family of one of 231 people killed when a Dominican nightclub roof collapsed on concert-goers is seeking manslaughter charges against the establishment's owners, according to a legal filing Tuesday.

The widow and parents of victim Virgilio Cruz filed a complaint with prosecutors, claiming the owners of the Jet Set nightclub had been negligent in "safety design" and modifications made to the building, now in ruins.

The family argued there was "sufficient evidentiary merit to indict" the club owners for involuntary manslaughter, and said they would also pursue a civil liability claim against authorities in the Dominican Republic.

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"This tragedy is not only attributable to the owners and managers of the Jet Set nightclub... but also to Dominican state institutions" and the municipality, said the filing.

"They failed to fulfill their legal duties of supervision, inspection, and authorization of operations for establishments open to the public."

The roof of the club, a half-century-old mainstay of the capital Santo Domingo, came crashing down in the early hours of Tuesday last week on hundreds of people attending a concert by merengue star Rubby Perez, who also died in the Caribbean nation's worst disaster in decades.

By Monday, authorities put the death toll at 231, with hundreds more injured.

- 'Avoidable tragedy' -

The legal filing listed evidence that the building, which was 52 years old, had been weakened by age, a recent fire, inadequate repairs and "undue loads" placed on the roof by heavy equipment such as air conditioners.

"The facts described here testify to a chain of structural negligence and security omissions, attributable not only to the managers (and) shareholders of the nightclub, but also to public institutions," said the document.

"These institutions, by failing in their duties of inspection, supervision, and control, violated their legal functions and fostered a dangerous environment that culminated in this avoidable tragedy."

More than 300 rescuers, aided by sniffer dogs, worked tirelessly for days to find survivors, and pulled 189 people alive from the mounds of twisted steel, zinc and brick that remain of the structure.

The Dominican government has announced a commission of national and international experts to investigate the calamity.

A preliminary list of victims includes an Italian, two French citizens and, according to the US State Department, "several" Americans.

Aerial images of the site show a scene resembling the aftermath of an earthquake.

A video posted on social media showed the venue, which could hold 1,700 guests, suddenly plunged into darkness while Perez was singing, followed by crashing sounds and screams.

Besides 69-year-old Perez, other high-profile victims included two retired Major League Baseball players and a provincial governor.