The New York City police department (NYPD) and New York City fire department (FDNY) have concluded the search for victims in the wreckage of the collapsed building in Brooklyn and released the names of the eight people who died.
A further 18 people were injured and one was still in critical condition Friday morning, after the disaster on a residential street on Wednesday that saw six men, a boy and a girl among those killed, amid demands for accountability .
Officials identified the eight people who were killed when the three-storey building came down as Barry Mamadou, 23; Ndiaye Mamadou, 31, Barry’s cousin according the New York Daily News ; José Luis Caguana Cosquillo, 26; Kevin Santiago Reyes Gonzalez, 10; Nicole Daniela Salvala Rodriguez, nine, Kevin’s cousin, according to ABC7 ; Juan Daniel Salvada Guzman, 31; Edgar Sapon, 26; and Gabriel Siguencia, 22.
Despite their efforts being thwarted by Thursday’s thunderstorm, hours of torrential rain, gusting winds and falling temperatures, officials managed to determine late Thursday that there were no more people to be rescued or recovered from the rubble.
Cosquillo was among at least three construction workers killed, according to ABC . He was the first named by police and had one child and his wife is pregnant, according to the Ecuadorian consulate, which will help with the transfer of his body to Ecuador, the network reported.
Officials also said several of the victims were undocumented immigrants, leaving their families in a difficult situation about what will happen to them next.
Officials have been citing noticeable cracks in the building before it collapsed that could be related to its destruction. Reports to New York City’s department of buildings said the place was “in poor condition” with visible cracks which had previously been reported to the authorities, according to CNN.
The Brooklyn district attorney’s office has opened a criminal investigation along with the department of buildings after the collapse, according to the New York Times .
Several bus routes and streets were still closed on Friday and some areas will remain so throughout the widening of the investigation.
