Dominican Republic: Jet Set nightclub owners arrested for involuntary manslaughter
The roof of the Jet Set nightclub collapsed in the early morning of April 8 during the concert of popular merengue singer Rubby Perez, who died at the scene.
Aerial image of Jet Set
Two of the owners of the nightclub that collapsed in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, two months ago were arrested Thursday on charges of involuntary manslaughter in a tragedy that caused 236 deaths.
The roof of the Jet Set nightclub collapsed in the early hours of April 8 during the concert of popular merengue singer Rubby Perez, who died at the scene.
Siblings Antonio and Maribel Espaillat, members of the family that owned the venue, were remanded in custody of the authorities after being interrogated at the headquarters of the prosecutor's office.
"Both defendants showed 'immense irresponsibility and negligence' in failing to carry out a physical intervention that prevented the amusement center's roof from collapsing," said a statement from the public prosecutor's office.
The charge of involuntary manslaughter carries a penalty of three months to two years in prison, and a fine of 25 to 100 pesos ($0.42-1.69).
"Fully cooperating"
The charges against the Espaillats are the first for this tragedy, one of the largest in the Caribbean country of 11 million people.
The relatives of the victims had filed more than 50 civil lawsuits against the Espaillats, while pressure on the authorities increased amid allegations of privileges for this family, which also owns a media conglomerate and a restaurant.
"The Espaillat family, which for 52 years ran the Jet Set business, in no way wanted this to happen, no way, there is no possible way," their lawyer Miguel Valerio told reporters.
"The involuntary manslaughter qualification is real," he added. "We are fully cooperating with authorities."
The brothers were transferred in a PGR van to cells of the National District Prosecutor's Office. A hearing is scheduled for Friday to determine if they will face their trial at liberty.
Technical report on the incident
Leonardo Reyes Madera, who headed the evaluating team, told AFP that the release of the report's data will be left to the prosecutor's office.
Experts, however, agree that the roof collapsed as a result of an overloading of the structure in the midst of poor supervision, while the government acknowledged a legal vacuum in matters of infrastructure regulation.
Espaillat himself said last April 23 that the venue "always" had leakage problems and that it was "never" supervised by authorities.
The Jet Set nightclub operated in that building since 1994. The structure was initially conceived to house a movie theater. After the collapse, the hole left by the collapsed roof could be seen from above and in the middle air conditioning machines and electrical plants that weigh tons.
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