Trini among victims in deadly Brooklyn building collapse

A Trinidad and Tobago national is among the victims of a catastrophic building collapse in Flatbush, Brooklyn – a heavily Caribbean enclave in New York City – that left at least eight people dead and 18 others injured. 

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed on Thursday that a national from Trinidad and Tobago, alongside immigrants from Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador, was among those killed and injured when the 1930s-era residential building gave way on Wednesday afternoon. 

Six adults, including two construction workers, and two children lost their lives in the tragedy. Four firefighters were among the 18 injured, and at least one survivor remains hospitalised in critical condition. 

“I want to take a moment to remember those we have so senselessly lost,” Mayor Mamdani said after visiting survivors at a local hospital on Thursday afternoon.  

“These were our friends and our neighbours, parents and children, young families building their lives in our city, immigrants from Mexico, Colombia, Trinidad and beyond.” 

The disaster unfolded around 4 pm on Wednesday when residents heard a loud boom.  

One of the building’s exterior walls tore away – exposing the interiors of several apartments – and the structure collapsed directly into an active construction site next door. 

According to fire department officials, New York City Fire Department (FDNY) crews arrived on the scene within one minute of the emergency call. Surviving construction workers immediately joined firefighters in digging through the rubble to pull trapped residents to safety. 

The collapse sent shockwaves through Flatbush, a quiet neighbourhood known as a melting pot for Afro-Caribbean, Hispanic, and Asian communities. 

Neighbour Ann Marie did not initially hear the collapse over the sound of her radio, only realising the scale of the disaster when flashing fire truck lights illuminated her street and she stepped outside to see the exposed apartments. 

Throughout the night and into Thursday morning, dozens of anxious residents gathered behind cordons as dust and debris hung in the air. Rescue teams deployed drones, sniffer dogs, and heavy cranes to comb through the rubble. 

Resident Joyette Kerr stood vigil at the scene from midnight, praying with families awaiting word on missing loved ones.  

At 1.30 am on Thursday, she watched rescuers pull a live survivor from the pile, before walking to a church across the street to console the distraught widow of a young construction worker whose body had just been recovered. 

“His wife was very hysterical,” said Kerr, who has lived in the area since she was a teenager. “She couldn’t take the pain.” 

Kerr noted that another man spent the night frantically visiting nearby hospitals searching for his two missing nephews without success. 

Law enforcement sources have identified seven of the eight people killed in the Brooklyn building collapse, but have not identified their nationalities. They are: 

Mamadou Barry, 23 

José Luis Caguana Cosquillo, 26 

John Doe, an unidentified man in his early 30s 

Kevin Santiago Reyes Gonzalez, 10 

Juan Daniel Salvada Guzman, 31 

Nicole Daniela Salvala Rodriguez, 9 

Edgar Sapon, 26 

Gabriel Siguencia, 22