At 1 AM on Tuesday morning, Carwin Javie Molleja was reveling in a long-awaited reunion with his mother, Carmin, at the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo when disaster struck. While enjoying the concert of merengue singer Rubby Pérez, Carwin noticed debris falling from the ceiling, but thought nothing of it at the time. “No-one thought that because a small stone fell the entire roof was going to collapse,” he reflected. The night, initially filled with joy after three years apart, quickly descended into terror when the ceiling fell, causing chaos and screams throughout the venue.
Carwin and his mother, who were positioned near the stage, were struck but managed to escape serious injury. However, the catastrophic event claimed the lives of at least 218 people, including beloved saxophonist Rubby Pérez. In the confusion, Carwin instinctively clung to his mother, trying to keep her safe, but as he tried to locate his friend Jessica and her sister, he faced overwhelming obstacles. With debris blocking the exits and screams filling the air, he felt helpless as he searched in vain for his friends.
“I guess I closed my eyes and my instinct was to hug my mum,” Carwin recalled. The aftermath of the incident was marked by chaos, as patrons attempted to rescue the injured. Emergency services arrived shortly after, but for Carwin, the inability to find his friends intensified the horror of the moment. He expressed a deep sense of loss when, later that day, both Jessica and her sister were discovered lifeless among the ruins.
“I regret not being able to do more for my friend,” he said, fighting back tears. “It feels awful not being able to do anything.” The nightclub disaster serves as a painful reminder of the fragility of life and the devastating impact of such tragedies on communities.
