Tornadoes, heavy rains rip across central, southern US

SANTO DOMINGO: Rescuers raced to find survivors early Wednesday after the roof of a Dominican Republic nightclub collapsed during a concert by popular singer Rubby Perez, one of nearly 100 people killed in the disaster.

Rescue workers were pressing on with the search effort, now limited more to recovering bodies from the rubble more than 24 hours after the roof caved in.

Renowned Dominican merengue singer Perez, who was performing at the Jet Set nightclub for hundreds of people when the roof collapsed shortly after midnight Tuesday, was one of those killed, according to his manager.

Relatives of clubgoers gathered around the disaster site in the capital Santo Domingo as rescuers ferried the injured to hospital, and used a crane to remove debris.

“We have some friends here, a niece, a cousin, some friends, who are in the rubble,” Rodolfo Espinal said, as he waited for information on his loved ones.

About 370 rescue personnel combed mounds of fallen bricks, steel bars and tin sheets for survivors.

Also among the dead were former Major League Baseball players Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco.

Dotel, who was 51 years old, was rescued alive but later died of his injuries, local media reported.

A black-and-white photo of Dotel and images of the Dominican flag were projected onto the scoreboard at Citi Field in New York before Tuesday’s game between the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins.

“Peace to his soul,” the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League wrote in separate social media posts paying tribute to the two ex-players.

Local media said there were between 500 and 1,000 people in the club when disaster struck at around 12:44 am (0444 GMT) Tuesday. The club has capacity for about 1,700 people.

Perez was on stage when there was a blackout and the roof came crashing down, according to eyewitness reports.

Perez’s daughter Zulinka told reporters she had managed to escape after the roof collapsed, but he did not.

Also among the dead was the governor of the Monte Cristi municipality, Nelsy Cruz, according to President Luis Abinader.

He declared three days of national mourning.

By early Wednesday, the preliminary death toll had reached 98, said Juan Manuel Mendez, director of the Emergency Operations Center.

“No people have been found alive since 3:00 p.m. (Tuesday),” Mendez said in his latest update.

“As long as there is hope for life, all authorities will be working to recover or rescue these people,” he said earlier.

Iris Pena, a woman who had attended the show, told SIN television how she escaped with her son.

“At one point, dirt started falling like dust into the drink on the table,” she said.

“A stone fell and cracked the table where we were, and we got out,” Pena recounted. “The impact was so strong, as if it had been a tsunami or an earthquake.”

Dozens of family members flocked to hospitals for news.

“We are desperate,” Regina del Rosa, whose sister was at the concert, told SIN. “They are not giving us news, they are not telling us anything.”

Helicopter images revealed a large hole where the club’s roof once was. A crane was helping lift some of the heavier rubble as men in hard hats dug through the debris.

Authorities have issued a call for Dominicans to donate blood.

Artists paid tribute to Rubby Perez on social media, with former colleague Wilfrido Vargas saying he was “devastated.”

“The friend and idol of our genre has left us,” Vargas wrote.

“Maestro, what a great pain he leaves us,” wrote Puerto Rican singer Olga Tanon.

The Instagram page of the Jet Set club said it has been in operation for more than 50 years, with shows every Monday until the early hours.

Its last post before Monday’s event invited fans to come and “enjoy his (Perez’s) greatest hits and dance in the country’s best nightclub.”

On Tuesday, the club issued a statement saying it was working “fully and transparently” with authorities.

The Jet Set collapse was one of the biggest tragedies the Caribbean nation and top tourist destination has faced in recent years.

In 2023, about 40 people were killed and dozens injured in an explosion linked to a plastics company in San Cristobal, near Santo Domingo.

And in 2005, more than 130 prisoners in the east of the country died in a fire caused by a fight between inmates.

Tourism generates about 15 percent of GDP in the country, with millions of annual visitors attracted by its music, nightlife, Caribbean beaches and the colonial architecture of the capital.

NAIROBI: Eight people in South Sudan, including five children, died on a three-hour walk to seek medical treatment for cholera after US aid cuts forced local health services to close, the UK-based charity Save the Children said on Wednesday.
The deaths last month are among the first to be directly attributed to cuts imposed by US President Donald Trump after entering office on January 20, which he said were to ensure grants were aligned with his “America First” agenda.
“There should be global moral outrage that the decisions made by powerful people in other countries have led to child deaths in just a matter of weeks,” said Christopher Nyamandi, Save the Children’s country director in South Sudan.
Experts have warned that the cuts — including the cancelation of more than 90 percent of USAID’s contracts — could cost millions of lives in the coming years due to malnutrition, AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases.
The US State Department said it did not have information about the deaths reported by Save the Children. A spokesperson said many US government programs providing lifesaving aid in South Sudan remained active but that support for medical services had also been used to enrich the country’s leaders.
“While emergency lifesaving programs continue, we will not, in good conscience, ask the American taxpayer to provide assistance that effectively subsidises the irresponsible and corrupt behavior of South Sudan’s political leaders,” the spokesperson said.
South Sudan’s government has in the past acknowledged a significant amount of public corruption but denied specific accusations of graft, including against President Salva Kiir’s family.
Humanitarian aid to the country is often channelled through non-governmental organizations, largely because of corruption concerns.
Save the Children supported 27 health facilities in eastern South Sudan’s Jonglei State until earlier this year when the US cuts forced seven to shut completely and 20 to close partially, the organization said in a statement.
US funded transport services to take people to hospital in the main local town also stopped for lack of funds, which meant the eight cholera patients had to walk in nearly 40°C (104°F) heat to seek treatment at the nearest health facility, it said.
Three of the children were under the age of 5, Nyamandi said.
Besides the US cuts, more gradual reductions by other donors have strained the humanitarian response in South Sudan. Save the Children expects to spend $30 million in the country in 2025, down from $50 million last year, Nyamandi said.
Over a third of South Sudan’s roughly 12 million people have been displaced by either conflict or natural disaster, and the United Nations says the country could be on the brink of a new civil war after fighting broke out in February in the northeast.
A cholera outbreak was declared last October. More than 22,000 cases had been recorded as of last month, causing hundreds of deaths, the World Health Organization has said.