AFP, Santo Domingo

Rescuers rushed to find survivors yesterday after the roof of a Dominican Republic nightclub collapsed during a concert by popular singer Rubby Perez, one of more than 110 people killed in the disaster.

Rescue workers were pressing on with the search effort, now limited more to recovering bodies from the rubble over a day after the roof caved in.

Renowned Dominican merengue singer Perez, who was performing at the Jet Set nightclub for hundreds of people when the roof collapsed shortly after midnight Tuesday, was one of those killed, his manager said.

Relatives of clubgoers gathered around the disaster site in the capital Santo Domingo as rescuers ferried the injured to hospital, and used a crane to remove debris.

“We have some friends here, a niece, a cousin, some friends, who are in the rubble,” Rodolfo Espinal told AFP on Tuesday, as he waited for information on his loved ones.

About 300 rescue workers combed mounds of fallen bricks, steel bars and tin sheets for survivors, supported by personnel from Puerto Rico and Israel, Juan Manuel Mendez, director of the Emergency Operations Center, said on Wednesday.

Also among the dead were former Major League Baseball players Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco.