A New York City-based art dealer and her husband were among at least 221 people killed in a nightmare roof collapse in the Dominican Republic.
Elivira Malkic and Hakim Boubazine were inside the Jet Set nightclub when its rooftop came down in the middle of popular merengue singer Rubby Perez’s performance on Tuesday, which triggered a 53-hour search and rescue mission in the capital of Santo Domingo.
Malkic, a mother of three, was the co-owner of the Elity Art gallery on 5th Avenue inside the high-end L’Appartement hair salon, and Boubazine previously served as the COO of Altice USA.
Gallery worker Iris Hernandez, 30, told The Post she was shocked to learn of Malkic and her husband’s death in the Jet Set tragedy, with gallery co-owner Tiffany Kaljić flying to the Dominican Republic after hearing the news.
Malkic had let her friend know ahead of time that she was going to be at Jet Set with her husband to celebrate someone’s birthday at the Perez concert.
“When she woke up, she saw it on the news,” Hernandez said about Kaljić’s reaction.
“She knew she was at the nightclub Jet Set, and when she didn’t hear back from her, she already knew,” the employee added.
Hernandez described Malkic as an “amazing woman” with a keen eye for business who loved working with artists and their work.
“She had a great work ethic, something I looked up to and [am] inspired by,” she said. “She always had a great input and positive energy, a beautiful woman.”
Malkic had also worked in Santo Domingo as an independent cosmetics consultant between 2015 and 2018, according to her LinkedIn page.
One of Malkic’s clients, who goes by the Instagram handle, Ordered Chaos, also confirmed Malkic and Boubazine’s death on social media.
“I am devastated and in shock. I have no words for this. She was like family to me,” the artist wrote. “She was so young and she had so much more to do on this Earth.
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“I am devastated. I can’t stop crying. She believed in me and my work more than anyone else. She took a chance on me and gave me a show in New York when I was just an artist who showed his work on Instagram. I owe Elvira and Tiffany so much,” they added.
“I have no doubt that you are up there in Heaven. You were an angel and the kindest person I’ve ever met.”
The telecommunications giant Altice also confirmed the couple’s death with a statement regarding their former COO.
“We are heartbroken for the families of all those lost in this devastating event, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the loved ones of the Boubazine family,” the company said in a statement.
Malkic and Boubazine were among the 221 victims pulled from the rubble since Tuesday, with the search and rescue efforts saving another 189 people who were trapped under the collapsed roof.
An investigation into what caused the nightclub’s roof to collapse is ongoing, with owner Antonio Espaillat returning to Santo Domingo to “cooperate with the authorities” probing the disaster.
