{"id":233202,"date":"2025-04-16T04:28:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T08:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=233202"},"modified":"2025-04-16T09:28:38","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T13:28:38","slug":"family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"First lawsuit is filed over deadly nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"antig-2740572144\" class=\"antig-ecab antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"antig-105413996\" class=\"antig-before-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/medicalbenefitsscheme\" aria-label=\"ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:341\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1200\" height=\"400\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>BBC: The parents and wife of one of the people who died when the roof of a nightclub collapsed in the Dominican Republic last week have become the first to press charges against the club&#8217;s owners.<\/p><div id=\"antig-1022442355\" class=\"antig-content_5 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.antiguabarbudaculinarymonth.com\/\" aria-label=\"culinary\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:132\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:450\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:337\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:675\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:842\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1124\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Police lieutenant Virgilio Rafael Cruz Aponte was one of the 231 people killed when the roof of the Jet Set music venue collapsed during a merengue music concert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A lawyer for the Cruz Aponte family said they had brought manslaughter charges against the owner and managers of the Jet Set club. Other families have said that they also plan to file lawsuits.<\/p><div id=\"antig-3223022200\" class=\"antig-content_4 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"antig-193104093\" class=\"antig-content_12 antig-entity-placement\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1320\/h:730\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1320\/h:730\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:166\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:566\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:425\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:696\/h:385\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_5614.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1320\" height=\"730\"   \/><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Jet Set&#8217;s owner, Antonio Espaillat, has said in a video message that he is fully co-operating with the investigation into the causes of the collapse.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/czx1yy2xrgro\"><\/a><\/p><div id=\"antig-741196760\" class=\"antig-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.antiguabarbudaculinarymonth.com\/\" aria-label=\"culinary\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:132\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:450\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:337\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:675\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:842\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1124\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That investigation is expected to take several months, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A lawyer representing Mr Cruz Aponte&#8217;s family said they had also accused the local government of neglecting its duty to ensure the venue complied with all necessary safety guidelines.<\/p><div id=\"antig-4091276007\" class=\"antig-content_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.com\/antigua\/\" aria-label=\"IMG_0783\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png 500w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:150\/h:150\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>On Monday, the interior ministry said that the number of dead had risen to 231 after five more people died of the injuries they had sustained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interior Minister Faride Raful said 189 people had been pulled alive from the rubble.<\/p><div id=\"antig-1060474500\" class=\"antig-content_3 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.com\/antigua\/\" aria-label=\"IMG_1115\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 1080w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:240\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:819\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 819w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:960\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Hundreds were inside the building on Monday evening to attend one of the club&#8217;s regular dance music evenings, which on this particular occasion starred popular merengue singer Rubby P\u00e9rez.<\/p><div id=\"antig-768623712\" class=\"antig-content_6 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>P\u00e9rez and one of the saxophonists in his band, both of whom were on stage at the time of the collapse, died in the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>P\u00e9rez&#8217;s daughter Zulinka, who was a backing singer in her father&#8217;s band, managed to get out of the rubble alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences, two French citizens, a Haitian, and an Italian national were among those killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The US State Department previously said that &#8220;several&#8221; US citizens had died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The impact of the tragedy has been felt beyond the Dominican Republic, in places with large Dominican communities such as New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New York Mayor Eric Adams travelled to Santo Domingo on Sunday and visited the site of the disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;They are not merely my residents, I&#8217;ve considered them my family,&#8221; he said of the Dominican residents of New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;And what do family members do during times of mourning? They mourn with you,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/fe88c52af2d4a4410840ca8e288ebd82.safeframe.googlesyndication.com\/safeframe\/1-0-41\/html\/container.html\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/61f8\/live\/34592160-19ef-11f0-97a9-a9d92cd3bdfa.jpg.webp\" alt=\"EPA The mayor of New York Eric Adams observes a tribute to the victims of the accident at the Jet Set nightclub, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 14 April 2025.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mayor Adams visited the site of the deadly roof collapse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div id=\"antig-3863415423\" class=\"antig-in-comments_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/@hadeedmotorsltd\" aria-label=\"Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 1000w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:75\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:192\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1000\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BBC: The parents and wife of one of the people who died when the roof of a nightclub collapsed in the Dominican Republic last week have become the first to press charges against the club&#8217;s owners. Police lieutenant Virgilio Rafael Cruz Aponte was one of the 231 people killed when the roof of the Jet [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":233203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-233202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.1 (Yoast SEO v24.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>First lawsuit is filed over deadly nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First lawsuit is filed over deadly nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BBC: The parents and wife of one of the people who died when the roof of a nightclub collapsed in the Dominican Republic last week have become the first to press charges against the club&#8217;s owners. Police lieutenant Virgilio Rafael Cruz Aponte was one of the 231 people killed when the roof of the Jet [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-16T08:28:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-16T13:28:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/41921e80-19dc-11f0-ac21-23020a0fbda6.jpg.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"863\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"First lawsuit is filed over deadly nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-16T08:28:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-16T13:28:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/\"},\"wordCount\":435,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:863\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/41921e80-19dc-11f0-ac21-23020a0fbda6.jpg.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/\",\"name\":\"First lawsuit is filed over deadly nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic - Antigua News Room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:863\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/41921e80-19dc-11f0-ac21-23020a0fbda6.jpg.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-16T08:28:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-16T13:28:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:863\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/41921e80-19dc-11f0-ac21-23020a0fbda6.jpg.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:863\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/41921e80-19dc-11f0-ac21-23020a0fbda6.jpg.webp\",\"width\":1536,\"height\":863,\"caption\":\"Vigils have been held for the more than 200 people who died in the accident\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"First lawsuit is filed over deadly nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua News Room\",\"description\":\"News As It Happens\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Antigua Newsroom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"width\":1260,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"Antigua Newsroom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\",\"name\":\"Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"caption\":\"Editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"First lawsuit is filed over deadly nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic - Antigua News Room","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"First lawsuit is filed over deadly nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic","og_description":"BBC: The parents and wife of one of the people who died when the roof of a nightclub collapsed in the Dominican Republic last week have become the first to press charges against the club&#8217;s owners. Police lieutenant Virgilio Rafael Cruz Aponte was one of the 231 people killed when the roof of the Jet [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/","og_site_name":"Antigua News Room","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","article_published_time":"2025-04-16T08:28:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-16T13:28:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1536,"height":863,"url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/41921e80-19dc-11f0-ac21-23020a0fbda6.jpg.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_site":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Editor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/"},"author":{"name":"Editor","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5"},"headline":"First lawsuit is filed over deadly nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic","datePublished":"2025-04-16T08:28:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-16T13:28:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/"},"wordCount":435,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:863\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/41921e80-19dc-11f0-ac21-23020a0fbda6.jpg.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/","name":"First lawsuit is filed over deadly nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic - Antigua News Room","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:863\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/41921e80-19dc-11f0-ac21-23020a0fbda6.jpg.webp","datePublished":"2025-04-16T08:28:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-16T13:28:38+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:863\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/41921e80-19dc-11f0-ac21-23020a0fbda6.jpg.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:863\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/41921e80-19dc-11f0-ac21-23020a0fbda6.jpg.webp","width":1536,"height":863,"caption":"Vigils have been held for the more than 200 people who died in the accident"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/family-of-dominican-republic-nightclub-collapse-victim-press-charges\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"First lawsuit is filed over deadly nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","name":"Antigua News Room","description":"News As It Happens","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization","name":"Antigua Newsroom","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","width":1260,"height":1260,"caption":"Antigua Newsroom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5","name":"Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","caption":"Editor"},"url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233202"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233253,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233202\/revisions\/233253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/233203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}