15-year-old girl dead, 3 hospitals: to build partially collapses

A 15-year-old girl has died and three others are injured after a building partially collapsed while a graduation party took place in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

About 17:34 Local time on Saturday, June 7, police and firefighters received several reports of people caught under a concrete stairwell that had loosened from the Portuguese American Citizens’ Club on Power Street, according to NBC 10 Boston and 7 News Boston.

“There were 75 people in the building at that time, and it seems that several were on the landing when it collapsed,” CBS news reported, with reference to Portsmouth Assistant Fire Chief Howie Tighe. A 15-year-old girl died, while two 17-year-old girls and a 49-year-old woman rushed to Rhode Island Hospital with significant injuries, per outlet.

“So the immediate rescue of two of the injured parties was pretty fast,” Tighe told CBS News. “They were not necessarily caught in a truly complicated way.

“Then it was the two who were significantly caught, and obviously one of them took up to 45 to 50 minutes because of the amount of cribing we had to do and tried to lift the concrete wall because she was captured under it,” he said.

Around the time for the event, Gov Dan McKee said in a post X that his team “carefully monitors the situation.” Our hearts are with Portuguese society and all they affected. I am deeply grateful for the first answers and pray for everyone’s security, ”he added.

Police have not formally identified the 15-year-old girl Per NBC 10 Boston. The building’s stairwell has been removed from the ground in the middle of an investigation led by Portsmouth Building Inspector, according to the outlet.

“We routinely practice building collapse scenarios and other scenarios, but when it happens it may be a stress point for them all,” Portsmouth Police Chief Brian Peters told NBC10 Boston Affiliate Wjar. “It is standard practice for us in our department when we have a deadly incident or a critical incident that the city has been really good at being able to afford us, and men and women benefit from it.”

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A memorial for the 15-year-old girl, a Portsmouth Public School student, was held on Sunday. Pastor David Chatowsky said he didn’t know the victim in person, but told Wjar that he “prayed for the parents and I prayed for the people who are injured.”

“We have to help them, we can do it through prayer, visit them and visit them at the hospital and show compassion,” Chatowsky added.

Portsmouth Portuguese American Citizens Club shared its sympathy in a post on Facebook.

“It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we acknowledge this unthinkable tragedy that has fallen our society,” reads the club’s statement. “Portsmouth Portuguese American Citizens Club has always proud to provide a place where our society can gather and celebrate.

“Words, neither written nor spoken, can express the grief we are all beaten,” the statement continued. “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved and affected. This tragedy has shaken us all to our core.

They concluded, “We want to express a debt of gratitude to our first respondents and law enforcement in the city of Portsmouth and neighboring societies.”

Portsmouth Police and Portsmouth’s fire brigade did not immediately respond to people’s request for comment on Monday, June 9th.