The collapse of the coverage of the Jet seta disco of Santo Domingocaused more than 180 victims and 150 injured For the moment. The night club was open and operational at the time of collapse of the coverage – which took place on the night between Sunday and Monday – so much so that Many videos on the net testify to the incident and highlight The important number of people present at the time of the accident. Among the victims there are also the Merengue artist who was performing at the time of the collapse, Rubby Perez, as well as former baseball professional players and the governor of the province of Montecristi, in theSy Cruz. What can be the reasons that led to the collapse?
Playing structure and roof: as the disco was built
The structure was open and operational since 1973, had undergone maintenance interventions in 2010 and 2015 and had been affected by a fire caused by lightning in 2023. The imprint of the jet set It extends over a rectangle about 20 mx 10 m (measures carried out through Google Maps). As can be seen from the images circulating on the net, the room was made up of a main entertainment room without vertical support elements in the central areas of the track. This means that the coverage system was connected to the elevation structures only through the perimeter area. In this area it is not clear what kind of load -bearing structure was present.
However, judging by some image that can be found on the net, and also because of the modest heights of the building, the same could probably have been made in bearing masonry or in reinforced concrete. The coverage structure, however, seems to be made of reinforced concrete: judging by the important lights involved, we speak of probably prefabricated and pre -deforest elementsresting on the edges of the rectangle that circumscribed the place.
The structural solution described is often used to cover lights in the indicated range, for example, think of the gyms and sports halls built around the same years also in Italy. From the inside, the photos that precede the collapse are unable to give us additional information about the structural system, as The building was equipped with a ceiling system To protect the plants, probably also used to lower the heights of the building, an architectural configuration often sought after in night environments.
The loads in play at the time of the collapse
Having no news of particular and extreme meterological events at the time of the collapse (such as strong winds, rains or similar events), the loads acting on the coverage can be identified in a fairly clear way:
- The weight of the coverage and the finishing layers, such as the waterproofing sheaths and any slopes of the slopes;
- The machinery at the service of the aerial system, such as cooling towers and air treatment units (Uta);
- The false ceiling;
- The equipment at the service of the track, such as lights, audio system and suspension ring (aluminum pylons) and any further plant components.
It seems that the coverage was giving some Important sign of failure already during the evening: In fact, some online videos document the fall of rubble from the central coverage area towards the track.
The possible causes of the collapse of the roof
It should be noted that, at the moment, There is no official information about the causes of the collapse: The dynamic must therefore be carefully studied by expert technicians, to understand their genesis and possible causes. However, we can make some preliminary comments to what happened:
- As mentioned above, There have been no extreme natural events able to compromise the static of the coverage;
- The collapse of course it cannot be due to an overcrowding problem of the room, as the roof is not influenced by the loads that are on the lower flooring;
- It certainly goes excluding a design errorgiven that the structure – and the coverage in question – had been operational for several years, substantially undergoing the same loading entity that was applied to them last night. A hypothetical design error should have occurred immediately, as soon as the construction is finished.
What can cause a collapse of this type? Judging by the images that can be seen on the net, the collapse seems to start from the central area and then spread towards the perimeter part. This would confirm a problem triggered to draw resistance of the structural cover elements. A loss of support and the possible involvement of the vertical structural elements could therefore be excluded. The progressive degradation of resistance of the roofing elementsperhaps due to water infiltrations or other similar phenomena, It seems to be the most likely cause of the collapse trigger.
We will wait for other updates to get a more detailed picture on the matter.
