Dominican Republic Nigh Club Roof Collapse

[JAE]

Hot spot in Santo Domingo full of people and the roof suddenly comes down.

Story here: https://nypost.com/2025/04/08/world...pses-at-popular-dominican-republic-nightclub/

Quick Instagram video of the collapse here:

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[Sym P. le]

From NYPost here, it looks like too much equipment on the roof.


NY Post


Google Maps


Street View

 

[TugboatEng]

Is anybody else disappointed in the deteriorating satellite image quality of Google Maps?

 

[davidbeach]

It was never satellite imagery.... geesh....

 

[TugboatEng]

Hmm?

 

[davidbeach]

That's what they say. Ever actually pondered any of that imagery? If, for instance, the images are from satellites rather than vastly lower airplanes, why do the images of power poles tip soooooo far away from the base? Those images are from a few thousand feet at most. Certainly well below any "low earth" satellite. So, go ahead and sue google, good luck, or just accept that they exaggerate a bit...

 

[human909]

That's what they say. Ever actually pondered any of that imagery? If, for instance, the images are from satellites rather than vastly lower airplanes, why do the images of power poles tip soooooo far away from the base?

Because that has nothing do do with things. If you aren't taking photos from directly in line with the vertical axis then you are going to get that effect whether it is from a satellite or a airplane.

Those images are from a few thousand feet at most. Certainly well below any "low earth" satellite. So, go ahead and sue google, good luck, or just accept that they exaggerate a bit...

Lol. Have you heard a telephoto lens?


Oh yeah I remember that time when North Korea allowed Google to do almost yearly 'flights' with their aircraft barely a few thousand feet over Pyongyang:




(Yes, some areas can have higher resolution images provided from aircraft. But Google Earth which has been incorporated into google maps is primarily satellite images.)

 

[XR250]

Man that is scary. I imagine no inspections department there or a corrupt one. Looks like a bunch of tons of equipment up there - literally and figuratively.

 

[IRstuff]

If, for instance, the images are from satellites rather than vastly lower airplanes, why do the images of power poles tip soooooo far away from the base?

Because the satellite probably was not directly overhead; earth observation satellites (EoS) don't always have good lines of sight for observations.

Nevertheless, there are also aircraft based collections

From Google Earth; https://support.google.com/earth/answer/6327779?hl=en

How images are collected​

You can see a large collection of imagery in Google Earth, including satellite, aerial, 3D, and Street View images. Images are collected over time from providers and platforms. Images aren't in real time, so you won't see live changes.

When images are collected​

• Some images list a single acquisition date, which is defined by the image provider.
• If an image is a mosaic of multiple satellite or aerial photos taken over days or months, a date range with a start date and an end date is displayed to show the dates the images were collected between.
• If little or no date information is supplied by the data provider, a start and end date are shown for the range within which we can be reasonably certain the image was taken.

 

[Sym P. le]

A problem with broadly spaced roof beam systems is lack of redundancy with respect to point loads. It appears that the main a/c unit caused the roof beam to fail, though lack of stability in the perimeter support may have played a significant role. The remainder of the beams appear to have tipped over towards the initiation point.

Edit: The main a/c unit appears different than the one captured in Google Maps imagery here so equipment upgrades could be a factor or vibration from failing units may have caused unaddressed issues. There is also mention of a fire in 2023 (though I've lost the reference)





No obvious external indications of this problem from Jan 2019, at least not at this resolution, though the roof diaphragm clearly flashes through the perimeter finish at the north and south ends of the stage wall.


Google Street View


Google Street View

 

[davidbeach]

There's a wide array of image sources and image qualities in Google Earth. Yes, there is undoubtedly a base of satellite imagery, but given the wide variety of sources and image quality it seems there's also a variety of elevations and focal lengths involved. If the image angle of power poles remained relatively constant as one moved along the line that would suggest a large distance between the camera and the surface, but when that angle changes noticeably over relatively short distances it certainly suggests a shorter distance between the camera and the surface. Having an image set that covers just a metropolitan area with higher resolution than the surrounding areas certainly suggests a special aerial imaging effort. That one such image set can have lots of different shadow angles also suggests a longer period of image collection than the pass of a satellite.

 

[Cool_Controls]

Alot of lighting and sound equipment that appeared to be supported from the ceiling/roof inside the club as well.

 

[BraunEHC]

From NYPost here: The club underwent renovations in 2010 and 2015. In 2023, a fire broke out at the club when it was struck by lightning.

 

[LionelHutz]

This e-house type unit looks like something rather heavy for the roof.

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

This over loading on flat roofs is common in the first world never mind 2nd or third.

Go to Dubai and see what gets stuck up there.

 

[Sym P. le]

The rooftop and streetside infrastructure have been significantly upgraded since Google Street View canvased the area in January 2019 (or even August 2019, here). Note the new roof mounted transformer (225KVA from CBC here) and adjacent sidewalk utility pole (from metro.co.uk)

 

[Roga50]

Alot of lighting and sound equipment that appeared to be supported from the ceiling/roof inside the club as well.

I wonder whether that is a permanent lighting/sound truss or temporary that travels with the performer?

About 30 years ago, I was a theatrical/concert electrician and our rigging crews would fly an amazing amount of stuff overhead with medium-to-large traveling productions. In normal concert venues in first-world countries, this (usually!) is done very carefully with the proper planning and structural analysis. But in a third world country and especially in a small venue, all bets are off....

(Over the years, I've even seen many questionable things done in smaller nightclubs in the US )

 

[Sym P. le]

From New York Times (paywall on some devices)

Jet Set, which has been open for 50 years, is one of the most famous clubs in the Dominican Republic. It is especially well known for its Monday shows, a staple of live music in the city.

The building, a former movie theater, was at least 50 years old ...

From the many photos available on the web, the lighting system for the show on the evening of the collapse was standard fare. I've come to believe that lighting and sound equipment is much lighter than in the 60's/70's but the building wasn't designed for its modern day usage. It won't be difficult for authorities to scrutinize the as-built concrete beams. I haven't seen photos of any broken sections yet.

A quick guess from Google Maps says the room is roughly 60ft x 120ft. Google AI suggests a room that size should be capable of holding 750 occupants in its format as a night club.

 

[Roga50]

Not sure how real / accurate this is or the backstory but video is circulating that employees were sweeping up possible falling parts of the roof before the total collapse:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DINRIxsJ2Ns

 

[Rabbit12]

A problem with broadly spaced roof beam systems is lack of redundancy with respect to point loads. It appears that the main a/c unit caused the roof beam to fail, though lack of stability in the perimeter support may have played a significant role. The remainder of the beams appear to have tipped over towards the initiation point.

It is simply amazing how quickly the exact cause of this collapse was determined by simply looking at aerial pictures of rubble. Less than 48 hours. Well done.