Much pain and a sea of tears one month after the tragedy at the Jet Set nightclub

Santo Domingo — Yesterday, Thursday, May 8, marked one month since the tragedy that plunged the entire country into mourning and touched the hearts of thousands of Dominican families.

On the morning of the commemoration, relatives of the victims gathered in the parking lot of El Portal Square, next to the Jet Set nightclub, to pay tribute to their loved ones.

Under a white tent erected for the occasion, a mass was celebrated by priest Marino Alcántara. It was a ceremony filled with tears and pleas for justice.

Some attendees carried flowers. Others held portraits. All shared the same pain: a fixed gaze toward the place where everything changed.

Workers from the National District Mayor’s Office (ADN) worked carefully around the makeshift altar. They picked up broken candles spilled by the recent rains and scraped the hardened wax stuck to the sidewalk with shovels.

Like the traces of this tragedy, that wax seemed reluctant to disappear. The new candles were grouped together, giving the place a more orderly appearance.

The most wilted flowers were also removed, allowing new bouquets, symbols, and mementos to replace them.

Like the marks left by the candles on the pavement, the tragedy of the Jet Set has left scars on the country’s soul.

Many families are still seeking comfort and justice.

This was expressed by the grandmother of a family that lost three of its members: Israel Antonio Díaz, Manuel Antonio Díaz, and Patricia Matos.

“Only the one who wears the shoe knows where it hurts. When a person is in a bed, you know they are going to die, but these were young people full of life, enjoying themselves, and to die like that,” she said, still shaken by the tragedy.

With a broken voice, she continued: “This is already being forgotten; it hurts us. Referring to Antonio Espaillat, the nightclub’s owner, the grandmother asked:” Have they arrested him? Have they taken him anywhere? Eating at home. He doesn’t remember those orphaned children. He doesn’t remember anything; it doesn’t exist for them, and he didn’t have any family there. ”

She said she does not trust the justice system, stating that” he (Antonio Espaillat) should already be in prison. They shouldn’t be covering it up so much; he has to pay.”

Brian Saldaña, production director at Color Visión, attended the ceremony yesterday. He lost his wife, Ruth Seijas, to whom he had been married for 16 years.

He remembers her as a cheerful woman and confessed that this month has been “terrible” for him. Ruth had attended the party hosted by Rubby Pérez, accompanied by a friend who also died. Ruth’s birthday was just a few days later.

During the ceremony, priest Marino Alcántara explained why he decided to officiate the mass: “The pain that the men and women, the family members, carry inside is terrible, that doesn’t change. You have to have deep faith to be able to assimilate it, because we are never prepared for the death of our family members and friends.”