José Luis Caguana Cosquillo, a 26-year-old father who was among the eight people who died when a Brooklyn building collapsed Nov. 11, is being remembered as a devoted family man and a cherished soccer teammate.
Caguana, whose wife is pregnant with the couple’s second child, was a hardworking father, whose love of soccer was demonstrated by the “magic” in his footwork, family and friends said.
“A very hard blow to the whole family, for all of us that are here,” José Caguana’s brother Carlos Caguana told Telemundo 47, according to a TODAY.com translation.
José Caguana was among the at least eight people killed and 19 others wounded, including three firefighters, in the collapse, an FDNY spokesperson told TODAY.com in an email. Two children were among the dead.
Six of the eight killed were pronounced dead at the scene while two others died at the hospital, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.
As of the morning of Nov. 12, New York City Fire Department officials say that they are still in the midst of an active search-and-rescue operation. The cause of the collapse is under investigation.
“We will be here until we are 100% sure there are no more people trapped,” FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore told reporters. “To be clear, we have not shifted from rescue to recovery. We are still in the search-and-rescue phase.”
The FDNY said in a post on social media that its units immediately began search-and-rescue operations upon responding to the collapse of the three-story, multiple dwelling building into an adjacent construction site. Multiple people from both the building and construction site were trapped in the rubble, according to the FDNY.
José Caguana, a construction worker who immigrated to the U.S. six years ago from Ecuador, was the sole breadwinner for his family, his brother told Telemundo 47. And his loved ones are contending with the enormous loss.
“He was the one who brought income for the family, and because he’s no longer here, she’s going through a loss that is an even bigger pain,” Carlos Caguana told Telemundo 47 of his sister-in-law.
He added that his brother’s death will be painful for the family’s young child as well.
“Imagine losing your father, it’s very difficult. And knowing that his dad was who brought financial support to them, the mainstay of their home, the one who brought, as they say, the daily bread,” Carlos Caguana told the outlet.
José Caguana’s recreational soccer team, Club Deportivo La Bahía, released a statement on social media, paying tribute to the dad and talented player.
“Rest in peace, friend. Today my heart cries over your absence, leaving an immense void but you also leave a legacy of love, friendship and companionship,” the club president wrote in the statement. “I will always remember you as a unique player with that magic on your feet.”
He added that José Caguana made “memories I will never forget.”
NBC New York’s Shakti Denis contributed reporting.
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