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Families devastated by Brooklyn building collapse came to NYC for a new life
By
Brittany Kriegstein
and
Ryan Kost
Published Nov 13, 2026
Modified Nov 13, 2026 at 6:27 p.m. ET
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Courtesey of Juan Carlos Zabala
By
Brittany Kriegstein
and
Ryan Kost
Published Nov 13, 2026
Modified Nov 13, 2026 at 6:27 p.m. ET
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The people who died in the Flatbush building collapse came from opposite ends of the world. But their loved ones said they shared the same hope: to make a new life in New York City.
“We have no words,” Juan Carlos Zabala said of his lost family. “They were following the American dream.”
His cousin, Juan Daniel Sabala, 31, had a 9-year-old daughter, Nicole. Both died in the wreckage. Another cousin of the same family, 10-year-old Kevin Santiago Reyes Gonzalez, was also found dead.
The collapse killed five other New Yorkers and injured 18 more in what is among the worst residential building collapses in recent city history. Zabala — speaking to Gothamist from Spain — said Friday that his cousin’s wife was still hospitalized and receiving intensive care with the couple’s 3-year-old daughter. Many others were also waiting for updates from their surviving family and friends.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin read the names of the dead, beginning with Sabala and his daughter, during a news conference Friday at a shelter for the displaced.
“They were cousins, they were roommates, they were sons, they were daughters, they were children,” Menin said. “They were Juan Sabala and Gabriel Siguencia, and two cousins who lived together, Mamadou Ndiaye and Mamadou Barry. They were Nicole Sabala and Kevin Reyes, another set of young cousins. They were Edgar Sapon, a construction worker who leaves a wife and 6-year-old son. They were José Caguana, who would pick up his 4-year-old son from preschool, and his wife is expecting a second child soon.”
Zabala said the family had arrived in the country three or four years ago, and Sabala had been working for a cleaning company. But the last time they spoke, Zabala said, his cousin sounded anxious.
“Everything with ICE was really bothering them,” he said. “So they stayed shut inside, from work to home and home to work because they were afraid of being deported.”
The family was home on Wednesday because it was Veterans Day, Zabala said. He had been planning to come visit in December — but now was left processing what had become of his relatives.
“I have a lot of nostalgia and a lot of sadness … because I am also in another country that’s not mine,” he said. “We came with a dream, hoping for a better life. And at the end, we don’t know what will happen to us.”
Ndiaye and Barry shared their apartment with a married couple, Mamadou Mouctar Balde and his wife, Fatoumata Binta Bah. She is six months pregnant and was pulled from the rubble by emergency workers. A widely shared picture of the rescue by AP Photographer Ryan Murphy shows her lying on a stretcher, flanked by firefighters, her skin caked with white dust.
She remains hospitalized with serious injuries, according to Councilmember Farah Louis, but she and her baby survived.
Balde, speaking in French, said he’d left the apartment to buy groceries shortly before the building collapsed. When he came back, emergency services and the Red Cross were already there. He thought there’d been a traffic accident until a woman told him the building had come down.
“When she told me there had been a collapse, I didn’t know where I was anymore, because I know our building borders that site,” Balde said. He said he told the woman, “My wife is inside, my friends are inside.”
Two of the dead, Gabriel Ariolfo Siguencia Yupa and José Luis Caguana Cosquillo, were construction workers from Ecuador. Caguana Cosquillo’s wife is set to give birth this weekend, said Winston Sanchez, who spoke on behalf of the men’s families.
“It is a sad day because it not only collapsed the building, it collapsed the lives of many relatives, brothers, fathers,” Sanchez said.
Investigations into what led to the collapse are underway. Attorney General Letitia James said she was standing ready to help however she can.
“The families in this community deserve answers about what led to this collapse,” James said.
Louis, who at one point struggled to hold back tears, went further:
“Buildings do not simply collapse without systemic failure,” she said, adding that records show “a building with nearly 100 open violations sitting next to an excavation site cited for violating a stop work order.”
The speakers noted that the mayor’s office has set up an emergency relief fund for those affected, and the Flatbush YMCA is collecting gift cards and checks. Other organizations have stepped up to collect donations as well.
This story has been updated with new information.
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Brooklyn building collapse
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Brittany Kriegstein
Brittany Kriegstein covers all breaking news around New York City, with a focus on crime and gun violence. Got a tip? Email Brittany at [email protected].
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Ryan Kost
Ryan Kost is a reporter on the day-of news desk, where he covers breaking news and writes enterprise stories about jails, courts, prosecutors and government accountability. His work focuses on the public institutions that shape life in New York. Before joining the newsroom, he lead a multi-part investigation with Columbia Journalism Investigations and New York Focus into how New York prosecutors handle wrongful conviction claims. He's also been a staff writer at The San Francisco Chronicle, The Associated Press and The Oregonian. Got a tip? Signal: ryankost.20
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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