World Series champ Octavio Dotel ‘missing’ & MLB players caught in club roof collapse chaos as DR death toll rises to 18

WORLD Series champion Octavio Dotel has been trapped in the rubble of a nightclub that collapsed, killing at least 18 people.

Dotel is among the dozens of people missing after the ceiling caved in at Jet Set, a popular club in the Dominican Republic where two other former Major League Baseball players also partied before tragedy struck early Tuesday morning.

Rescue workers search for survivors after the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, collapsed early TuesdayAP:Associated Press

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Octavio Dotel celebrating while the St. Louis Cardinals played the MLB World Series in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 28, 2011[/caption]

AFP

First responders inspecting the nightclub collapse that killed at least 18 people[/caption]

Over 100 people were hurt when the roof of the club in Santo Domingo collapsed at around 1 am local time, according to Juan Manuel Méndez, the director of the Emergency Operations Center.

Dotel is alive but hasn’t been located as the veteran pitcher is stuck somewhere under the ceiling, local media reported.

Over 100 people have been rescued alive from the terrifying scene, Méndez said.

At least 300 people were inside the venue when it collapsed while merengue artist Rubby Pérez and his orchestra performed on stage, local media reported.

Former MLB players Esteban Germán and Henry Blanco were reportedly in the club during the performance but escaped during the chaos, according to La Nacion.

Nelsy Cruz, the sister of another former MLB player Nelson Cruz, was among the 18 killed in the accident, DR President Luis Abinador said.

At least 121 people, including Pérez, were rushed to the hospital after the ceiling plummeted, according to the EOC.

Rescue workers are continuing to search for survivors at the scene as many people trapped in the crash are believed to still be alive.

“That is why the authorities here will not give up until not a single person remains under that rubble,” Méndez said.

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