Former major league pitcher Octavio Dotel was among those who died after the roof of an iconic nightclub collapsed in the Dominican Republic early Tuesday morning, the Dominican National Police confirmed.

At least 44 people were killed, including Nelsy Cruz, the governor of the northwestern province of Montecristi and sister of seven-time MLB All-Star Nelson Cruz. Another 160 people were injured.

The collapse occurred around 1 a.m. during a merengue concert, which drew athletes, politicians and others to the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the roof to collapse.

The Professional Baseball League of the Dominican Republic also confirmed Dotel’s death on social media.

Dotel, who logged 36 saves for the Houston Astros and the Athletics in 2004, was pulled from the rubble about six hours after the collapse and was transported to a hospital.

“Dotel was taken to one of the designated hospitals. On the way there, his condition worsened and he died,” Dominican National Police spokesman Diego Pesqueira said.

Dotel, 51, started his major league career in 1999 with the New York Mets. In 2011, he helped the St. Louis Cardinals win a World Series. During his 15 years in the majors, Dotel recorded 109 saves and logged a 3.78 ERA.

Nelsy Cruz had called President Luis Abinader at 12:49 a.m. saying she was trapped and that the roof had collapsed, First Lady Raquel Abraje told reporters. Officials said Cruz died later at the hospital.

“This is too great a tragedy,” an emotional Abraje said.

President Abinader, who was at the scene, wrote on X that all rescue agencies are “working tirelessly” to help those affected.

Nearly 12 hours after the top of the nightclub collapsed down onto patrons, rescue crews were still pulling out survivors from the debris. At the scene, firefighters removed blocks of broken concrete and sawed planks of wood to use them as planks to lift heavy debris as the noise of drills breaking through concrete filled the air.

“We have faith in God that we will rescue even more people alive,” Abinader told reporters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEW YORK — New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez, who is on the injured list with a fractured hamate bone, will begin a rehab assignment Wednesday, manager Carlos Mendoza announced.

Alvarez suffered his injury while taking a swing during spring training last month. At the time, the Mets said he would miss six to eight weeks, making a return by the end of April a possibility.

“We’ll see,” Mendoza said. “I think it’s going to come down to him catching back-to-back, hopefully, nine innings. Getting four or five at-bats. But the progression starts kind of like spring training — five innings, off day, and we’ll go from there. But the fact that he’s going to start playing games and build competition, that’s a good sign.”

A year ago, Alvarez suffered a torn thumb ligament on the same hand that required surgery and sidelined him for more than seven weeks. He returned to produce a disappointing offensive season, posting a .710 OPS with 11 home runs in 100 games after clubbing 25 homers with a .721 OPS as a rookie in 2023.

The 23-year-old catcher took pregame batting practice on the field Tuesday for the first time since his injury in preparation for his first game action for single-A Port Lucie. Without Alvarez, Luis Torrens, who has been recently limited by a forearm contusion, has served as the Mets’ catcher with six starts in the first 10 games. Hayden Senger, a 28-year-old rookie, is the team’s backup.

Jeff McNeil also took batting practice at Citi Field on Tuesday for the first time since landing on the injured list with an oblique strain last month. Mendoza said the veteran second baseman, who also took ground balls on Tuesday, will begin his own rehab assignment this weekend. Mendoza said a late April return remains the target for McNeil, who turned 33 on Tuesday.

Brett Baty and rookie Luisangel Acuña have each struggled splitting time at second base in McNeil’s absence. Baty entered Tuesday 2 for 21 (.095) with eight strikeouts and zero walks in eight games. Acuña was 2-for-17 (.118) with two walks and four strikeouts in nine games.

Seattle Mariners outfielder Victor Robles has a small fracture in the humeral head of his left shoulder and will miss at least 12 weeks — and potentially the entire season if he needs surgery.

Mariners executive vice president/general manager Justin Hollander on Tuesday said the team believes Robles, who had an MRI, does not need surgery at this time but will continue to monitor the injury.

If Robles avoids surgery, the team estimated that it would take six weeks for the fracture to heal and another six of rehab before he returned to action.

If surgery is eventually required, Robles would be expected to miss the remainder of the season.

He was placed on the 10-day injured list Monday, one day after he made a jumping catch of a long ball hit by Patrick Bailey of the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the ninth that had barely turned foul.

His glove hand still outstretched, Robles’ elbow appeared to make contact with a padded wall, and he also got tangled in netting. Robles was carted off the field.

The 27-year-old joined the Mariners after being waived by the Washington Nationals during the 2024 season. Robles was Seattle’s leadoff batter in its first 10 games of this season, and he was hitting .273 with 3 doubles, 3 RBIs, 3 runs and 3 stolen bases.

Robles has batted .248 in his 617-game career with Washington (2017-24) and Seattle, recording 35 homers, 185 RBIs, 257 runs and 103 stolen bases.

ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez and Field Level Media contributed to this report.