Wilmy Nova visited a Red Cross center on April 9, a day after the tragic roof collapse, and shared a video on his social media urging others to help local hospitals by donating blood
A politician who donated blood to the victims of the tragic Dominican Republic nightclub collapse has sadly died.
In the early hours of Tuesday, April 8 the roof of the Jet Set Club nightclub in the Dominican Republic in Santo Domingo collapsed on revellers. Randolfo Rijo Gómez, director of the country’s 911 system, said it received more than 100 calls, with several of those made by people buried under the rubble.
He noted that police arrived at the scene in 90 seconds, followed minutes later by first response units. In less than half an hour, 25 soldiers, seven fire brigades and 77 ambulances were scrambled to the scene, with crews used dogs and thermal cameras to search for victims.
READ MORE: Survivor of Dominican Republic nightclub roof collapse recalls horror of being buried under dead bodies for hours
Despite the swift emergency response the tragic incident killed 231 people and left more than 200 people injured. An investigation into the collapse is expected. Authorities have not released any preliminary findings or commented on what might have caused the roof to fall.
Wilmy Nova reportedly suffered a heart attack on Monday, according to local reports. Nova visited a Red Cross center on April 9, a day after the roof collapse. However, former Santo Domingo councilwoman Elin Rosario, who hosted a local television program with Nova, has raised doubts over Nova’s cause of death and called on Attorney General Yeni Reynoso and President Luis Abinader to investigate, reports MailOnline.
A video posted on his Facebook page showed Nova, a father-of-one, lying on a bed as blood was being drawn and supporters of the Social Justice party to do the same. Nova said: “We have responded to the call for mass blood donations in response to the tragedy that occurred last night at the Jet Set, a tragedy that has impacted us al. We ask all young people in our Party to join us and go to any nearby blood donation center … Come, today for you, tomorrow for me.’
One of the people trapped under the rubble at the nightclub was Patricia Ovalles. Speaking to Univision from her hospital bed, recounting the horror of being trapped under dead bodies in the rubble for nearly six hours. She recalled: “I heard a cell phone ring from another person, but he was dead. He had his hand on top of me, and he was dead because he had the light [from the phone] on his face.”
Patricia managed to find the phone and called the father of her son. “Please, protect my son. Don’t tell him anything. Protect my son, protect my father, protect my mamma,” she pleaded with him, adding, “I don’t want God to let me die because I don’t want my son to see me dead.”, reports the Mirror US.
In the devastating event, singer Rubby Perez was killed along with fellow ex-major leaguers Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco. Tragically, Nelsy Cruz, Montecristi governor and sister to baseball star Nelson Cruz, also lost her life.
