In the early hours of Tuesday, chaos erupted in Santo Domingo’s Jet Set nightclub as the ceiling unexpectedly collapsed, resulting in tragic loss of life. Carwin Javie Molleja, 32, was enjoying a concert with his mother, Carmin, when he first heard something fall from above. Disregarding it as a minor incident, he remained on the dance floor, immersed in the festivities.
Suddenly, “everything happened so fast,” he recalled. As chaos broke out, Carwin instinctively grabbed his mother, who was screaming, and they fled as debris rained down. Though both sustained minor injuries from falling rubble, they escaped with their lives.
Tragically, friends of Carwin were still inside. Desperate to locate Jessica and her sister, he rushed back into the wreckage, shouting their names in vain. He felt helpless as he witnessed the overwhelming destruction around him. “The stones were huge. I felt useless,” he lamented, unable to reach those trapped beneath the rubble.
As emergency responders arrived, Carwin stayed at the scene for an hour and a half, hoping to find his friends among the chaos. Ultimately, he had to prioritize taking his mother home, who was in distress. Tragically, Jessica and her sister’s bodies were later recovered from the wreckage, leaving Carwin with a deep sense of regret. “I regret not having been able to do more,” he said somberly. This disaster claimed the lives of at least 221 people, a tragedy that will haunt those who survived it.
