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A devastating roof collapse at a nightclub in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, has left at least 44 people dead and more than 150 injured. The incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday during a live performance by renowned merengue artist Rubby Pérez at the Jet Set discotheque.

Rescue operations are still underway as emergency crews work to locate and assist anyone trapped beneath the debris. Authorities have dispatched approximately 400 search and rescue personnel to the scene. The exact cause of the collapse has not yet been determined.

The director of the Emergency Operations Centre (COE), Juan Manuel Méndez, said rescue workers were still looking for people under the debris.

He added that ambulances had made more than 100 trips to the area’s hospitals, at times carrying more than one patient. 

Mr Méndez said he was hopeful that many of those buried under the collapsed roof were still alive. 

Jet Set is a popular nightclub in Santo Domingo which regularly hosts dance music concerts on Monday evenings. 

Video footage apparently taken inside the club shows people sitting at tables in front of the stage and some dancing to the music in the back while Rubby Pérez sings. 

In a separate mobile phone recording shared on social media, a man standing next to the stage can be heard saying “something fell from the ceiling”, while his finger can be seen pointing towards the roof. 

In the footage, singer Rubby Pérez, also seems to be looking towards the area pointed out by the man. 

Less than 30 seconds later, a noise can be heard and the recording goes black while a woman is heard shouting “Dad, what’s happened to you?”.

One of Rubby Pérez’s band members told local media that the club had been full when the collapse happened “at around 1am”.

“I thought it was an earthquake,” the musician said. 

The daughter of Rubby Pérez said her father was among those trapped in the debris.

Speaking to the Diario Libre newspaper, Pérez’s manager Fernando Soto said the singer was found alive but he did not know whether he had been transferred to hospital. 

Former Major League Baseball star Octavio Dotel, 51, is understood to have been inside the nightclub when the roof collapsed. He was pulled out of the rubble, according to local media reports, however his condition and whereabouts remain unclear. 

The president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, has expressed his condolences to the families affected.