NewsTracker Answers for week of Apr 14, 2025

Q: The death toll in last week’s roof collapse at a popular nightclub in the Dominican Republic rose to 226 with weekend deaths of five people who had been hospitalized after being pulled from the rubble. Where is the Dominican Republic on the second-largest island in the Caribbean Sea?

Circle the area on this map


Q: The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with what other nation?

A. Bahamas

B. Cuba

C. Haiti

D. Jamaica


C. Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, occupies the western three-eighths of Hispaniola and the Dominican Republic occupies the rest. The Dominican Republic has increased security along its land border as Haiti descended into chaos after its last president was killed in 2021 and violent gangs gained power.


Q: Two former Major League Baseball (MLB) players died in last week’s nightclub disaster. Only the United States has produced more major league players than the Dominican Republic in the history of baseball. What place ranks third in providing MLB stars?

A. Canada

B. Cuba

C. Puerto Rico

D. Venezuela


D. The United States has produced a total of 17,912 big league players; the Dominican Republic has supplied 908 players; Venezuela sent 489 to the majors; Puerto Rico produced 286; Canada put 266 players in the majors; and Cuba has had 235 major leaguers. These places still supply the most active players in 2025, according to the Baseball Almanac.


Q: The Jet Set nightclub roof collapsed in the city of Santo Domingo, which is the …

A. Capital of the Dominican Republic

B. Most populous place in the Caribbean

C. Oldest European city in the Americas

D. All of the above


D. Santo Domingo was founded in 1496 by Bartholomew Columbus, Christopher’s younger brother, and it is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas. It is the nation’s capital, and it has the largest metropolitan area population in the Caribbean.


Q: Christopher Columbus landed on the island he named Hispaniola in 1492, and later left it to sail back to Spain after his first voyage to the New World. He first landed on an island of which modern nation during that trip?

A. Antigua

B. Bahamas

C. Cuba

D. Dominica


B. On Oct. 12, 1492, Columbus is believed to have landed on what is San Salvador island in the Bahamas. He called the indigenous people there indios - Spanish for 'Indians' - mistakenly believing he had reached Asia’s East Indies. He went on to Cuba and Hispaniola. He found and named the islands of Antigua and Dominica during his second voyage.