Pedro Martinez says he has family unaccounted for in Dominican Republic nightclub roof collapse
Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and Boston Red Sox pitching legend Pedro Martinez says he has family members who were at a nightclub in the Dominican Republic when the roof collapsed on Tuesday, killing more than 100 people.
"I still have family members that are still in the [rubble] and we don't know what happened to them but we just want to be strong, like we have always been," Martinez said in a video posted to his social media accounts.
Martinez said to those who lost family members in the roof collapse, "our hearts are with you."
"We're all sad, we're all affected by the tragedy," he said. "We're a country that prays a lot and remains united all the time."
Martinez, a Dominican-American, has maintained strong ties to his native country. The Pedro Martinez Foundation raises money for Dominican children in need and he is building a state-of-the-art charter school there that is set to open in 2026.
Jet Set nightclub roof collapse
Authorities said Wednesday that at least 113 people died and more than 150 were hospitalized when the top of the Jet Set club in the capital city of Santo Domingo collapsed. Hundreds of people are still helping to look for potential survivors.
"We presume that many of them are still alive, and that is why the authorities here will not give up until not a single person remains under that rubble," Center of Emergency Operations Director Juan Manuel Méndez said.
Among the dead were former MLB pitcher Octavio Dotel and former MLB player Tony Blanco. Seven-time MLB All-Star Nelson Cruz said his sister Nelsy Cruz, a governor in the country, was also killed.
