U.S. State Department Secretary Marco Rubio offered his condolences to Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader this Friday for the collapse of a nightclub roof in Santo Domingo, which occurred earlier this week and left nearly 220 dead and 190 injured.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke today with President Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic to express his sincere condolences following the collapse of the roof of the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo. We are deeply saddened by the families of Abinader and our Dominican friends who lost their loved ones,” reads a statement shared by the department.
Following a phone call with Abinader, Rubio applauded in the same statement the swiftness with which Dominican authorities and emergency teams intervened after the incident, highlighting “the vital assistance provided by the Governor of Puerto Rico, Jenniffer González Colón, and the Puerto Rico Fire Department.”
In this context, the representatives of both countries took advantage of the conversation to reaffirm “the strength of the relationship between the United States and the Dominican Republic and the enduring ties that unite our peoples.”
This telephone exchange took place after Dominican authorities confirmed last Thursday that at least 221 people had died and another 189 had been injured when the roof of the Jet Set nightclub in the country’s capital collapsed earlier this week during a party featuring the prominent merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who also died.
While authorities have not clarified how many people may have been inside when the collapse occurred, the possibility of survivors has been ruled out.
This Thursday, the Dominican president extended the national mourning period for three more days for the tragedy, which “caused a significant loss of life, including that of several American citizens.”
