Results tagged “tragedy”

Yesterday, three men working at a Queens recycling plant died when they were trapped in a sewage hole that was full of toxic hydrogen sulfide gas. The NY Times reports the men, including a father and son, were "overcome by toxic fumes Monday afternoon and died, apparently falling one after another into the Stygian gloom of a putrid, manhole-size, 18-foot-deep well they were trying to vacuum."

      

As noted in our newsletter, yesterday was the 98th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. In 1911 approximately 500 workers were sewing shirtwaists at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company's sweatshop near Washington Square in Manhattan when a fire broke out, ultimately killing 146 garment workers who either jumped to their deaths or died from the fire. It was the largest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York.

An off duty NYPD lieutenant fatally shot and stabbed his wife and then turned his gun on himself yesterday afternoon in their Centereach home. Francis Cole, 48, a 19-year NYPD vet who worked at the 68th Precinct, first stabbed wife Elena, 46, in the chest and then shot her in the head. Their 18-year-old daughter tried to intervene, but Newsday reports, "he struck his daughter in the face." The daughter then called 911; Cole, who shot himself in the head, was conscious when the ambulance arrived but he died at the hospital. Suffolk County police Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick says there was "a general atmosphere of trouble," because the couple were getting divorced. Neighbors were shocked and surprised to hear the couple were divorcing; one told the Post, "There was no sign of anything. Never an argument, nothing. They were the ideal family."

A family already mourning was dealt a terrible blow: Jersey City's Christ Hospital apparently threw away the body of their dead newborn with the trash. Grieving mother Kalynn Moore told WCBS 2 that the funeral home went to pick of the body, but were unable to find it, "I looked at them and said, 'Excuse me?' And they were like. 'We can't find your son.'" Her cousin added that she accompanied the baby to the morgue—"He had ID bracelets on both ankles. There was a tag on the t-shirt, and a tag on the blankets." The hospital told the Jersey Journal that baby was stillborn on December 21 (the family says the baby was born alive and declared dead 20 minutes later). The body was apparently thrown out by the time the funeral home inquired on January 2. Police are now searching garbage dumps in NJ and Pennsylvania and Christ Hospital said, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, and we hope to bring this unfortunate situation to a resolution as soon as possible."

The second day of hunting season claimed one more life than anyone would have hoped for when a toddler was accidentally shot and killed inside her grandmother's trailer in Swan Lake. Edward Taibi of Howard Beach was arrested on charges of second-degree manslaughter after a stray bullet from his .300 Magnum rifle went through the trailer and struck sixteen-month-old Charly Skala in the chest.

Yesterday, the body of 20-year-old Carlo Milito was pulled from a lake in Smallwood, in Sullivan County. Milito and two other friends from Brooklyn, cousins Domenico Coluccio, 19, and Anthony DuPont, 18, drowned after their boat capsized on Sunday. Sheriff Mike Schiff explained, "The temperature of the water, which was 48 or 49 degrees, gives an immediate shock to the system – to the lungs, muscles – you cramp and start to develop hypothermia very quickly. They were also wearing layered clothing which absorbs the water and that will weigh you down to the bottom."

Yesterday, mourners attended the funeral of the pregnant traffic agent fatally struck in the Bronx and the baby son she never knew. Donnette Sanz and Sean Michael Justin Sanz were buried together in the same casket; she had died on August while her son was born but only lived a week until last Friday. Wdower Rafael Sanz "broke down" when he was given the flag from the coffin.

It's been a heartbreaking week for Rafael Sanz. His pregnant wife, traffic agent Donnette Sanz, was hit by an out-of-control van and was pinned under a school bus on a Bronx street. She died, but doctors delivered their 2-months premature baby boy. Unfortunately, the baby lost his fight a week later and Sanz told the Daily News that doctors weren't optimistic, so he took the baby off the respirator "to end his pain." Donnette Sanz's funeral was planned for tomorrow; the widower will now bury his son with his wife. He said, "I loved the baby for the one week that I had him. But one week was not enough... I think he will be okay with his mother. That's the only comfort that I find.." And NY1 reports that charges against the van's driver, who is an unlicensed ex-con and charged with criminally negligent homicide, may be upgraded.

On Thursday morning, 15-year-old Bukhari Washington was killed in his bedroom when a bullet from a semiautomatic rifle entered through the floor of his bedroom in Newark, NJ. He had been sleeping, and it turned out his downstairs neighbor, 19-year-old Terrance Perry, accidentally fired the rifle when "fiddling" around with it.

Yesterday, a funeral was held for three-year-old Kyle Smith, who died under the care and apparent abuse of family friends. Family members, friends and neighbors shed tears and voiced regrets over the child's death.

A day after the tragic death of Stephon Marbury's father Donald, some more details have come to light regarding his final moments. Knicks officials insist that Stephon's family asked the team not to notify him of his father's condition until after the game. Apparently this was not the first time Donald Marbury had suffered from chest pains like these. Donald was taken from The Garden right before the third quarter began, but the team only...