Immigrant construction worker with pregnant wife among 8 dead in Brooklyn building collapse

Roni Jacobson and Barry Paddock, New York Daily News on Nov 12, 2026

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NEW YORK — A 26-year-old immigrant construction worker with a wife about to give birth has been identified as among the at least eight dead in the Brooklyn building collapse.

José Luis Caguana Cosquillo emigrated from Ecuador about six years ago and leaves behind a 4-year-old son and pregnant wife.

“She’s heading to the hospital tomorrow for the baby to be born,” the president of the Club Deportivo La Bahía soccer team the victim was a part of told the Daily News Thursday.

The victim had “hopes and dreams of building a better future for himself and his family,” a GoFundMe to support his family says. “He was a hardworking, loving, and devoted father who worked tirelessly to provide for the people he loved.”

“His wife is now facing the unimaginable heartbreak of losing her husband while preparing to welcome their newest child into the world without him by her side,” the GoFundMe goes on to say.

The GoFundMe was created by his son’s teachers at Bushwick United Headstart.

“Through our connection with his family, we had the privilege of witnessing firsthand what a loving and dedicated father José was,” the wrote. “His love for his children was evident.”

Rescuers are painstakingly combing through the rubble of 1321 Flatbush Ave. — a three-story mixed-use building in Flatbush — that collapsed and slid into an adjacent construction site where Caguana Cosquillo was working about 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Caguana Cosquillo’s soccer club is mourning the victim on social media, calling his death an “irreparable loss.”

“Today my heart cries because your absence leaves an immense void, but you also leave a legacy of love, friendship, and camaraderie,” the club’s president wrote in Spanish. “I will always remember you as a different kind of player with that magic in your feet.”

The collapsed building had been perched at the edge of the site at 2625 Bedford Ave., where the construction crew was excavating the property for a proposed three-story building.

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