Jet Set nightclub owner ‘destroyed’ by roof collapse that killed 232

Antonio Espaillat, the owner of a Dominican Republic nightclub, first learned of the collapse when his sister called him while trapped in the debris.

The owner of a Dominican Republic nightclub where 232 people died following a roof collapse earlier this month has admitted that the building had been riddled with structural issues for more than a decade, and that plasterboard was used on multiple occasions to make repairs.

On Wednesday, in his first interview since the April 8 disaster, Antonio Espaillat, the manager and owner of the plagued Jet Set nightclub in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo, told local TV station Telesistema that plasterboard had been added to the roof hours before it caved in.

According to The Associated Press, he noted that plasterboard had fallen repeatedly through the years, including when water filtered through the club’s air conditioning units. Espaillat confirmed no one ever inspected the roof or water filtration systems.

He told reporters there were six air conditioning units on the roof, plus three water tanks, and that an electric generator was installed in an adjacent room, not on the roof.

Every six to eight years, a specialized crew would waterproof the roof, with the last waterproofing done about a month before the collapse, he explained.

“We always bought plasterboard. Always,” he continued.

Espaillat first learned of the tragedy when his sister called him while trapped in the debris alongside hundreds of other people who were attending a concert by merengue musician Rubby Pérez, who was among those killed.

He was in Las Vegas attending a convention when he received the news.