Rubby Pérez, a merengue singer who was performing at the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo when the roof collapsed, has passed away. He was 69.
Pérez’s manager, Enrique Paulino, confirmed the news to PEOPLE after Rolling Stone and Listín Diario reported his death. Enrique Paulino also changed Pérez’s Instagram profile photo to black. No further details emerged.
Pérez, who is best known for “Volveré,” made 13 albums, per El Colombiano. Following the announcement of his death, several individuals expressed their condolences in his final Instagram post.
As of Tuesday night, the Dominican Republic National Police announced that 79 persons have died because of the collapsed roof. Hospital centers in the National District have received 155 patients so far.
Tony Blanco, a former Major League Baseball player and father of current Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Tony Blanco Jr., and former MLB pitcher Octavio Dotel have also been verified as deceased.
Nelsy Cruz, the governor of the northern Dominican Republic province of Montecristi and the sister of former Major League Baseball player Nelson Cruz, died. According to Rolling Stone, a saxophonist who was on stage with Pérez has also died.
The announcement follows the national police’s previous statement on Tuesday that “authorities reiterate that search, rescue, and medical care work continues uninterruptedly, under strict inter-agency coordination to provide support to victims and their families.”
According to Rolling Stone, earlier in the day, Pérez’s family revealed that the merengue singer was taken to a local hospital after paramedics “found him singing” under rubble.
“We pray for his speedy recovery.” He’s hurt, but he’s in the hospital; they discovered him singing. He began singing so that they could hear him. He’s always instructed me, ‘If something happens to me, cover me so no one takes photographs’,” his daughter Zulinka Pérez told the Spanish press, according to the site.
The website states that before his death, he received treatment at the Plaza de Salud hospital.