Dominican Republic roof collapse death toll climbs to at least 124
The death toll from a roof collapse at a popular Dominican Republic nightclub has climbed to at least 124, authorities said Wednesday as they continued the search for survivors.
More than 300 people were inside Jet Set in the capital city of Santo Domingo when the roof collapsed just before 1 a.m. Tuesday. Many remained unaccounted for as the search and rescue operation continued.
PHOTOS: Over 100 dead after nightclub collapse in Dominican Republic
Merengue singer Rubby Perez, who was performing when tragedy struck, was among the dead, according to emergency operations director Juan Manuel Mendez. Perez's body was found early Wednesday, Mendez said.
Officials said 145 people had been rescued alive from the rubble. So far, 54 of the confirmed 124 deceased victims have been identified. For many waiting desperately for news of their loved ones, that was not enough.
'We cannot wait until nighttime!' one woman shouted Wednesday as more victims were publicly identified. 'We're going to go crazy!'
Jet Set was known for merengue concerts on Mondays, and the club was packed with politicians, athletes and musicians when the roof collapsed. Also among the dead were former Yankees and Mets pitcher Octavio Dotel and Dominican star Tony Blanco, who played briefly for the Washington Nationals.
Nelsy Cruz, the governor of Monte Cristi province and sister of ex-MLB All-Star Nelson Cruz, was also killed in the collapse. Nelsy Cruz was the one who called President Luis Abinader from the rubble to let him know about the disaster.
Other victims included saxophone player Luis Solis, who was also performing, and New York-based fashion designer Martin Polanco. Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez said late Tuesday some of his relatives were in attendance and still missing.
'Our hearts are with you, and we all are affected,' Martinez said in an Instagram video. 'I still have family members that are still in the [rubble], and we don't know what happened to them, but we just want to be strong like we have always been.'
Investigators are still unsure what caused the roof to collapse. Videos shared online showed dust falling from the ceiling just minutes before the entire structure came falling down. Club owners said they were cooperating with the official investigation. However, the immediate priority on Wednesday remained search and rescue.
With News Wire Services
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
31 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Andrew Abbott throws 3-hitter and Spencer Steer drives in only run as Reds beat Guardians
CLEVELAND — Andrew Abbott pitched a three-hitter for his first career complete game and Spencer Steer had an RBI single in the fifth inning, lifting the Cincinnati Reds to a 1-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night. Abbott (6-1) struck out five and walked one in a 110-pitch gem, bouncing back from his first loss on June 4 against Milwaukee. It was the first shutout by a Cincinnati pitcher since Wade Miley no-hit Cleveland on May 7, 2021, also at Progressive Field.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Bills minicamp observations: Christian Benford dazzles, Joe Andreessen shows improvement, and more
With two full weeks of Organized Team Activities complete, the Bills shook off the rust to prepare them for their final big rehearsal before training camp begins in late July. Tuesday marked the beginning of the Bills' annual mandatory minicamp, a scheduled three-day practice window before the team adjourns for over a month before training camp. Advertisement Freshly back from marrying actress Hailee Steinfeld in late May, franchise quarterback Josh Allen returned to the team for the beginning of the minicamp after missing the final week of OTAs for obvious reasons. Allen, sporting his new wedding ring for the first time during a practice, was tight-lipped about most wedding-related things but was excited to return to work. 'We're back to football, got some hardware now,' Allen stated, raising his left hand briefly to show the ring. 'So, good to go.' Allen and his 90 teammates — including running back James Cook — were all in attendance for the first day of the mandatory session. What stood out about the team's first required practice of the 2025 campaign? Here are several observations from Day 1 of Bills minicamp. One of the biggest investments the Bills made in the offseason was in cornerback Christian Benford, signing him to a long-term extension that runs through the 2029 season and committing to him as their clear-as-day top cornerback through the next several seasons. Although it's a spring workout, and you can't read too much into things this time of the year, Benford's poise and confidence, in both reading the play in front of him and in his still-improving ability to turn and run with a receiver, were completely apparent. On the first rep of team drills, Benford kicked things off with a sprawling interception of Allen, which elicited a humongous reaction from his defensive teammates and set the tone for a practice that was, for the most part, dictated by the defense against the Allen-led offensive attack. Benford followed up that strong start with another big playmaking rep, as he turned and ran with receiver Tyrell Shavers. With Benford's back turned to Allen, he watched as Shavers waited until the last second to put his hands up and try to corral the pass along the sideline. The instant that Benford saw Shavers' arms go up, Benford reacted and punched the ball out of the receiver's hands before Shavers could try to tuck the ball into his body. Advertisement Those two reps indicate a simple fact around Orchard Park: Benford is one of the team's best defenders and still has some room to grow to make his ceiling even higher than last year. If something was missing from his defensive profile in the previous two years of starting, it was an overall lack of interceptions. He had four over those two regular seasons, which is respectable. However, if the already instinctive and still improving Benford can help create more turnovers in 2025 and beyond, he can easily become known as one of the top players at his position in the NFL. On top of it all, Benford doesn't even turn 25 until September, which means once he hits his prime, the Bills have him locked in for its entirety. He could easily be one of the most important players on the team in 2025. In workout settings like the mandatory minicamp, you can always tell who put a lot of time on task during the offseason. And based on what he did with more opportunities on Tuesday, second-year player Joe Andreessen was undoubtedly one of them. It's really difficult to stand out in an offseason practice setting as a linebacker because so much physicality goes into playing the role. Still, Andreessen showed improvement in an area he struggled with as a rookie — pass coverage. During 7-on-7s, he read the quarterback and the route to jump it to break up a pass attempt. Later, in 11-on-11 work, Andreessen trusted his coverage instincts to drift where the quarterback's eyes took him, and he was able to run down a throw and break up a pass near the sidelines that the receiver would have caught had Andreessen not read the play. It's those types of signs the Bills love to see this time of year and something that can bring on more opportunities at training camp. Advertisement After moving around a bit last year, Andreessen settled into a reserve middle linebacker role during his rookie season, and that's likely to be his best position in the short term. Even though the starting spot is not up for discussion, with Terrel Bernard being the clear starter, the opportunity to steal the backup job from Baylon Spector is there. Given Andreessen's importance on special teams and developing defensive skills, it's looking increasingly like he's closer to 53-man-roster-lock status rather than being on the bubble as he was last year. It's been a bit since the Bills reached into their Carolina pipeline for players who general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott worked with while they were there, but a big name from their old Panthers program joined the Bills Tuesday. Linebacker Shaq Thompson, Carolina's first-round pick in 2015, signed a one-year deal with the Bills, making him the team's first semi-significant acquisition at linebacker this offseason. Thompson tore his Achilles early on during the 2024 season and has been rehabbing it since. Even with the injury, his institutional knowledge of how McDermott operated for years in Carolina will help him as he gets comfortable in Buffalo. On his first day on the job, Thompson went through some positional drills at the beginning of practice. He has a big name and has started 112 games over his 10-year career. So what's fair to expect of him? At this point, Thompson would likely be battling for no better than the fourth spot on the linebacker depth chart. Bernard, Matt Milano and Dorian Williams all seem relatively entrenched in their spots among the top three. Thompson, who was primarily an outside linebacker for McDermott in Carolina, could have some crossover to also work as a middle linebacker at this stage of his career. If Thompson pushes to make the team, players like Spector, Edefuan Ulofoshio, or both, could be at risk of getting cut. Spector has dealt with injuries throughout his Bills career, leaving the door open to someone taking his job. A lot will be determined by the guaranteed money on Thompson's contract, along with how he looks at training camp. If Thompson doesn't earn a roster spot, he'd also be a candidate for a veteran stash on their practice squad. Although 91 players were in attendance on Tuesday, not all of them were able to participate in the practice fully. McDermott gave out a fairly lengthy list, which included defensive end Joey Bosa, nickel Taron Johnson, center Connor McGovern, safety Cole Bishop, defensive back Cam Lewis, safety Damar Hamlin and wide receiver K.J. Hamler. Advertisement That group also extended to running back Ty Johnson and center Alec Anderson, as the offensive lineman did not take any 11-on-11 snaps near the end of the practice. But even though most were limited throughout the session, almost all of them had varying levels of on-field work on Tuesday. Johnson was in a non-contact jersey, but he participated in most of the day, which included 11-on-11 snaps. None of the others were able to do as much as Johnson. Still, encouragingly, some potential starting players were able to take some low-stress reps during the offensive and defensive installation portion — essentially a walkthrough. That group included Bosa, who suffered a calf injury just days ahead of the team's first practice for OTAs. His appearance is a good sign for his involvement when camp arrives in late July. McGovern, Bishop, Spector and Hamlin also took some installation reps despite not taking any team drill snaps. It all shows that those injuries are relatively minor, which could make them all ready for the start of training camp. This time last year, the Bills' receiver room was wide open to a potential younger player pushing for a spot on the 53-man roster, and Shavers showed a great deal of promise. He followed it up with a good training camp and was likely one of the last cuts the Bills had to make for their 53-man roster in 2024. But they kept him in-house all season on the practice squad. To begin this year's minicamp, Shavers struggled with the rudimentary part of the job — catching the ball. He let one get away without a defender on him in routes vs. air, and in one of the first team drill reps, he dropped another short pass. That, along with getting the ball raked out of his hands by Benford during team drills, contributed to a frustrating day for Shavers. The receiver is likely facing an uphill climb to make the team in 2025 despite being a solid special teams player, and days like this hurt his chances, but there is a lot of time between now and cutdown day in late August. Regardless, he remains a potential practice squad asset for yet another season in Buffalo. Advertisement If there's one thing that punters will need to be prepared for while playing in Buffalo, it's the whipping winds of Orchard Park throughout the fall and winter months. However, the two competitors in this year's punting competition — Brad Robbins and Jake Camarda — had unusually high winds in June to deal with during the beginning of practice. Robbins was given six punting attempts to Camarda's three, which is an interesting nod toward Robbins. But it's important to note that the Bills structured Robbins' first three reps and all of Camarda's reps to have the same situation. Camarda was the clear winner through the winds in that specialized situation, besting both the hang time and average yardage categories. Camarda's attempts had an average hang time of 4.06 to Robbins' 4.01, and Camarda averaged 64 yards per punt to Robbins' 54.7. Robbins did improve in a different situation further down the field for his final three chances, averaging 4.2 seconds of hang time and 58.3 yards per punt, but Camarda was clearly the winner. Robbins had been the better punter in the two days of OTAs that the media was allowed to watch, so Camarda's win will likely make this into a full-blown close competition to track at training camp. Up Next: Day 2 of Bills minicamp begins at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday. (Photo of Christian Benford: Mark Konezny / Imagn Images)
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Three ways Giants offense will look different: Return of the deep ball, limited run game
Take a glance at the New York Giants personnel for 2025, and you might be hard-pressed to come up with reasons why this year's offense will fare better than the one that averaged just 16.1 points per game last season. The offensive coaching staff remains largely the same, while 10 of the unit's 11 starters return. Advertisement But it's that one, the starting quarterback, that can make all the difference. The Giants overhauled their QB room this offseason, adding Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston and Jaxson Dart, with Wilson, expected to serve as the Week 1 starter, exclusively working with the first-team offense since arriving in New York. But how much different/better can the offense be with Wilson at the helm instead of Daniel Jones? The Giants hope the answer is a lot better, but they are still figuring that out themselves. 'We are putting a lot of installations in to see how much they can regurgitate and get back and show up and play fast and still have a lot of volume,' said Mike Kafka, the Giants assistant head coach/offensive coordinator. 'And test them on that, so now we know how much volume we can carry throughout the year, and know, all right, maybe this group can't handle this, or they can. We can continue to build on certain packages.' While the coaching staff certainly has a plan to coax more production out of the offense this year, we dialed in on what will look and feel different for that unit this season. The Giants tried to sell hope last offseason, but even with Malik Nabers in tow, there weren't many buyers for a team running it back with Jones following his disappointing and injury-marred 2023 season. Jones and the Giants floundered in 2024, setting up an offseason of change — and perhaps hope. It all starts with Dart, whom the Giants traded back into the first round to draft with the No. 25 selection. There's already a lot of optimism around the team, and among fans excited about Dart's game, and his personality. While Dart will likely take a backseat to Wilson and Winston early in his career, his development behind the scenes will be one of the most important facets of the season. And if the Giants struggle early on, his mere presence on the roster will offer fans some reason for hope going forward. Advertisement Meanwhile, Wilson and Winston are expected to raise the floor for a Giants offense that has struggled to be functional in recent years. The early reviews of Wilson from teammates and coaches are positive, especially when it comes to the veteran's leadership. He's gone to dinner with the other QBs, offensive linemen and running backs, and he's also organized workouts with skill players in Atlanta. Receiver Wan'Dale Robinson noticed a difference the first time he, receiver Darius Slayton and tight end Theo Johnson worked with the QB. 'The way he commanded, even just that little session of just the three of us … it was just kind of like we haven't had a quarterback that's going to command everything, and you know exactly what you want,' Robinson said. The Giants' quarterback room is going to be a lot different, and the vibes around the Meadowlands are, too. Beyond the vibes, though, let's zoom in a bit further and take a look at some of the more tangible differences you can expect to see from the offense with Wilson at the helm. Despite some of the limitations age has brought to the 36-year-old Wilson's game, his deep ball remains one of the best in the league. And that's exactly what the Giants were searching for in free agency. 'We knew we needed to push the ball down the field a lot more,' assistant general manager Brandon Brown said recently. 'You guys have seen him do that in practice. … Him having that veteran leadership on the offensive side as well as having the ability to complement what (Brian Daboll) wants to get done from the quarterback position, we thought it was a really good fit.' With the Steelers last year, 11.6 percent of Wilson's attempts were deep passes — throws that traveled at least 22 yards in the air, according to TruMedia — the ninth-highest mark in the league among qualified quarterbacks. Giants QBs only let it fly on 8.6 percent of their passes, which was 24th in the league. Advertisement The biggest beneficiaries of Wilson's penchant for going long should be Nabers and Slayton, but also perhaps Jalin Hyatt. The speed merchant has struggled to find his footing during his first two NFL seasons, recording just 31 catches for 435 yards. However, Wilson has already been complimentary of Hyatt. The two even got together in Los Angeles for a private workout, just weeks after Wilson had joined the Giants. And with Nabers not practicing so far at OTAs, Hyatt has been looking sharp to start the spring. Perhaps Wilson's deep ball can help revive his career. One other thing to note about Wilson's deep passing is that when it's not there, the QB is quick to check it down. That means Giants running backs could be in for a huge receiving workload this season. Per TruMedia, Wilson targeted running backs on 22.3 percent of his throws last year, the third-highest rate in the league. By comparison, Giants quarterbacks targeted running backs on 14.9 percent of their throws, 26th in the NFL. Fortunately for the Giants, their running back room is equipped with solid pass catchers. Tyrone Tracy Jr. is coming off an impressive rookie season that included 38 receptions. He, of course, also played wide receiver in college before transitioning to running back in his final collegiate season. The Giants also drafted fourth-round running back Cam Skattebo, who tallied 45 receptions for 605 yards during his senior season at Arizona State. According to The Athletic's NFL draft guru, Dane Brugler, Skattebo is a 'soft-handed receiver who catches the ball with ease.' That skill set should translate well as he is sure to field plenty of passes from Wilson. Throughout his career, Wilson has largely preferred to throw the ball outside the numbers rather than down the middle of the field. Last season, 50.6 percent of Wilson's attempts went outside the numbers, the ninth-highest rate in the league. Conversely, Wilson tends to avoid the middle of the field, where slot receivers typically roam. Among 34 qualified passers the past two years, Wilson has targeted the slot at just a 22.3 percent clip — the lowest mark in the league. Now, that could at least be partly attributed to the offensive schemes and players Wilson played with in Denver and Pittsburgh, but it's still safe to say he's not going to pepper the middle of the field. Advertisement So while Nabers, Slayton and Hyatt could all benefit from Wilson's play style, we'll be watching to see how slot receiver Robinson is used and how he meshes with his new quarterback. 'I definitely think I'll be moved around a little bit more,' Robinson said. 'Might be outside a little bit more, get some deeper shots down the field. But at the end of the day, just going to continue to get open and just be a valuable target for our quarterbacks.' In terms of other limitations, Wilson isn't nearly as mobile as he once was, so expect far fewer designed runs than the Giants called for Jones last season. In 2024, Jones had a 9.8 percent designed rush rate, which was the fourth-highest in the league among qualified passers behind Philadelphia's Jalen Hurts, Indianapolis' Anthony Richardson and Baltimore's Lamar Jackson. By comparison, Wilson's designed rush rate was 3.2 percent. In this case, the scheme cannot be faulted, as the other QB who played in Pittsburgh last season, Justin Fields, had a designed rush rate of 16.3 percent. So, it's fair to expect fewer designed runs for a Wilson-led offense. We'll get a fuller picture of the changes during training camp, but it's a new era for the Giants offense — even if only one face on the field has changed.
