World Series champ Pedro Martinez had family members inside nightclub when it collapsed
Family members of World Series champion Pedro Martinez were inside a nightclub in the Dominican Republic when the roof collapsed and killed dozens of people Tuesday.
113 people died, and more than 250 were injured in the collapse at the Jet Set nightclub that happened nearly an hour after a merengue concert began.
In a video Martinez posted on Instagram, he said he had family members involved in the tragedy.
"Our hearts are with you, and we all are affected. I still have family members that are still in the (rubble), and we don바카라 게임 웹사이트t know what happened to them, but we just want to be strong like we have always been. We are a country that prays a lot and remains united all the time, so I just hope that everybody has the same courage," Martinez said.
Also among the dead are former MLB pitcher Octavio Dotel and former first baseman Tony Blanco, who once played for the Red Sox organization in the minor leagues.
Singer Rubby Perez was singing on stage just seconds before the roof came crashing down.
Video shows a man pointing at the ceiling, saying something fell, and within seconds, the roof collapses and the video goes dark.
Rescuers worked overnight to pull more than 150 people from the debris alive, but dozens more are still believed to be trapped. At least 300 people were inside at the time of the collapse.
The club said it was cooperating with authorities.
"There are no words to express the pain this event has caused. What happened has been devastating for everyone," the owner, Antonio Espaillat, said in the statement.
It wasn바카라 게임 웹사이트t immediately clear what caused the roof to collapse or when the Jet Set building was last inspected.
The club opened in 1973 as a club and restaurant, becoming the most popular venue of its kind in the Dominican Republic, according to Listín Diario, a local newspaper.
Martinez won three Cy Young Awards and earned eight All-Star Game selections in his career. When he retired from Major League Baseball in 2009, he was the first to retire with more than 3,000 strikeouts in fewer than 3,000 innings pitched in his career.
The Dominican Republic native played seven of his 18 major league seasons with the Boston Red Sox (1998-2004), finishing with a 117-37 win-loss record (.760 win percentage), a 2.52 earned run average and 72 games of at least 10 strikeouts. He won back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 1999 and 2000.
He posted a 6-2 record and 3.40 ERA in 13 postseason games for Boston and helped the Red Sox win the World Series in 2004. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.