Mocho mourns victim of bridge collapse in Florida
SEVERAL RESIDENTS of Mocho, Clarendon, took to social media to share their grief yesterday as news broke that one of their own had died when a pedestrian bridge collapsed at the Florida International University last Thursday.
Up to press time yesterday, authorities in the United States were yet to officially release the identities of the six persons or more killed, but unofficial reports listed one of the victims as 37-year-old Jamaican Navaro Brown of Mocho.
A spokesman for Structural Technologies VSL, which provides products to strengthen bridges, said three of its employees were injured when the bridge collapsed, with Brown succumbing to his injuries while the others were hospitalised in stable condition.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr Brown’s family and with the other affected employees,” he said. “We really appreciate the work of the first responders who immediately offered their help.”
Brown was reportedly from Eden Top in Mocho, Clarendon.
Yesterday, efforts to contact Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamina Johnson Smith were unsuccessful.
But in a Facebook post, Appleonia Brown, who said she was Narvaro’s cousin, described him as a hard-working, humble youth and expressed sadness at his passing.
“Varo you really gone??? S.I.P mi cuz gone way t oo soon,” said Appleonia in a post.
Yesterday afternoon, two vehi- cles containing three bodies were removed from the wreckage of the collapsed bridge as authorities continued to remove debris in attempt to extract at least four cars that were still trapped.
The recovery came after police used cameras to locate five bodies in the rubble.
Authorities were carefully trying t o get t o remaining victims late yesterday.