Dominican Republic: Nightclub collapses: Owners arrested, accused of "involuntary manslaughter"

There's news in the collapse case, considered the biggest tragedy of the century in the Dominican Republic. The owners of the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo, which collapsed on April 8, killing 236 people, including merengue star Rubby Perez , were arrested Thursday and charged with "involuntary manslaughter."

The tragedy took place in San Cristobal, on the outskirts of Santo Domingo. Antonio Espaillat Lopez and his sister, Maribel Espaillat, owners of the club, are the first people to be prosecuted in this case, with some fifty complaints filed by relatives of the victims.

"The two defendants demonstrated immense irresponsibility and negligence by failing to carry out physical intervention that would have prevented the roof of the entertainment center from collapsing, as it ultimately did, resulting in 236 deaths and more than 180 injuries," the prosecutor's office said in a statement. It also reported a new death toll of 236, including hospital deaths. The previous death toll was 234, and it was 225 on Thursday.

Shortly beforehand, Antonio Espaillat Lopez's lawyer, ^Miguel Valerio, had confirmed his client's detention. The 59-year-old is a powerful entrepreneur on the island who also runs a media conglomerate and a restaurant. He had presented himself free earlier in the day at the Attorney General's office, accompanied by his lawyer and his sister.

"The Espaillat family has made it clear that they are willing to cooperate with the investigation," ^Valerio told reporters. Pressure on the authorities has been mounting in recent days, with some believing that the nightclub's co-owner was receiving preferential treatment.

The arrest comes a day after a special commission submitted the technical report on the causes of the collapse to the Attorney General's Office. Leonardo Reyes Madera, who led the evaluation team, declined to reveal the report's contents, stating that the disclosure of such data is the responsibility of the prosecutor's office.

According to experts interviewed outside the judicial system, the causes of the accident were overloading the roof with excessively heavy air conditioning equipment, and the gradual deterioration of the building's structure due to accumulated humidity and prolonged vibrations caused by loud music and dancers, all aggravated by a lack of supervision.

Antonio Espaillat Lopez himself had stated on April 23 during a television interview that the site had "always" had problems with water infiltration and that it had "never" been inspected by the authorities.