Dad, Daughter and Young Cousin Killed in Brooklyn Building Collapse

A father who came to America hoping to build a better life for his family was killed alongside his 9-year-old daughter and 10-year-old cousin when their Brooklyn apartment building suddenly collapsed. Now, troubling details about the building’s condition and construction work next door are raising questions about whether the deadly disaster could have been prevented.

Juan Daniel Sabala, 31, his daughter Nicole Daniela Rodriguez, 9, and their young relative Kevin Santiago Reyes Gonzalez, 10, were among eight people killed Wednesday, November 11, when a three-story building on Flatbush Avenue crumbled into a neighboring construction pit. Another 18 people were injured.

The Colombian family had moved to the United States approximately three or four years earlier, hoping for a fresh start. But according to Sabala’s cousin, Juan Carlos Zabala, their growing fear of immigration enforcement had led them to spend much of their time inside their apartment.

“They were following the American dream,” Zabala told Gothamist, explaining that the family generally went straight home after work because they feared encounters with federal immigration agents.

Tragically, the place they considered safest became the scene of an unimaginable disaster.

The family had been home for Veterans Day when the building collapsed shortly after 4 p.m., sending bricks, concrete and other debris crashing into the excavation site below.

Sabala, who worked for a cleaning company, died alongside his daughter and young cousin. His wife and their 3-year-old daughter survived but remained hospitalized as of Friday, according to relatives.

Zabala, who lives in Spain, had been planning to visit the family in December. Instead, he was left grieving three relatives from thousands of miles away.

“We have no words,” he said.

The loss has also devastated Kevin’s school community. The 10-year-old fifth-grader attended Success Academy Ditmas Park Middle School and had returned from a three-day camping trip in New Jersey just days before the collapse.

Shari McKenzie, whose daughter attended school with Kevin, described being overwhelmed when she learned of his death. She subsequently organized a fundraiser to help his grieving family.

But as relatives struggle to come to terms with the tragedy, investigators are uncovering troubling details about the circumstances surrounding the collapse.

Construction crews had been excavating a neighboring property when the building gave way. Residents reported feeling repeated shaking from the work, while one witness described seeing bricks fall from the structure shortly before the collapse.

Engineering records reviewed by Engineering News-Record also revealed that a preconstruction survey in March had documented visible cracks in the building’s masonry. One exterior wall had been rated in poor condition.

Meanwhile, city housing records showed more than 90 unresolved violations associated with the property, although officials have not established whether those issues contributed to the disaster.

The neighboring construction site had also faced previous enforcement action. A stop-work order was issued in March over inadequate overhead protection during demolition, and inspectors later found that work had resumed in violation of that order. Officials said those issues were subsequently corrected.

New York City authorities are now investigating whether the excavation work, structural conditions or failures in safety precautions played a role in the collapse. The city has also ordered inspections at more than 160 other construction sites connected to companies involved in the project.

Among the other victims were two construction workers from Ecuador, including a father whose wife was expecting their second child within days.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has promised accountability if investigators determine that anyone bears responsibility for the disaster. No cause has been officially established.

For the families mourning their loved ones, the investigation may eventually provide answers. But nothing can undo the tragedy that unfolded on an ordinary holiday afternoon, when a family pursuing a better future lost three of its members in the very place they called home.