A CELEBRATION WITH OLD FRIENDS IN NEW YORK ENDS IN CARNAGE
▶ The victims of Tuesday’s terrorist attack in Manhattan included five Argentinian school buddies in town for a reunion, as well as a Belgian national, writes Rob Crilly
The photograph shows a group of eight middle-aged men beaming with excitement and wearing T-shirts with the logo “libre” – or “free” – shortly before they boarded their flight from Argentina to New York for a school reunion.
Days later, five were dead and another was in hospital.
The victims of Tuesday’s terrorist attack in New York included five of the Argentinian friends as well as a Belgian national, it emerged yesterday, in a reminder of the city’s status as a global destination.
Consular staff from several countries issued public appeals as they tried to discover if any of their citizens were hurt when a rented pickup ploughed through pedestrians and cyclists.
Argentina’s foreign ministry identified the dead as Ariel Erlij, Hernan Diego Mendoza, Diego Enrique Angelini, Alejandro Damian Pagnucco, and Hernan Ferruchi.
It said a fifth citizen, Martin Ludovico Marro, who lives in Connecticut, was recovering from injuries at Manhattan’s Presbyterian Hospital.
They were all from the same Rosario Polytechnic School, and had flown to New York for the 30th anniversary of their graduation in 1987.
They had planned a trip that would also take them to Boston.
Mateo Estreme, Argentina’s consul in New York, said that the three survivors were in a state of shock.
“We are trying to figure out how to go on – especially the families,” he told The New York Post. “[They] are completely lost about, well, being very far from their relatives. They don’t know what to do.”
The survivors were struggling to come to terms with the carnage, he said.
“They are devastated,” he said. “They are still in shock because they cannot believe that this happened.”
Argentinian media reported that part of the trip had been paid for by Erlij, who ran a steel mill. He wanted to make sure that two the members of the group could be there.
They died on a bright, clear afternoon of the sort that New York does so well. They were following the leisurely flow of pedestrians and cyclists on the bike path alongside the West Side Highway, close to the Hudson River.
They rode Citibikes, one of the great levellers of the city, rented with a credit card from roadside stations and used by everyone – from tourists looking for a different way to see the city to busy commuters trying to beat gridlock.
The five men were killed close to Stuyvesant High School at the end of the deadly rampage, where the rented vehicle came to halt after careening more than 20 blocks along the cycle path.
In all, six people were declared dead at the scene. Two more died later in hospital.
At least 15 people were also injured. The location of the incident, near a school, resulted in two students and two members of staff being among those hurt, according to the city’s department of education.
The government of Belgium confirmed that one of its citizens was killed, but provided no further information.
Didier Reynders, deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister, said three others were injured.
“I am deeply saddened to announce a Belgian victim in Manhattan,” Mr Reynders said.
“I express my condolences. Our thoughts are with her family and her friends.”
He told the Belga news agency that the victim was a woman from the city of Roeselare, who was visiting New York with her mother and sister. They were now being looked after by consular staff, he said.
Condolences poured in from around the world as the city gears up for an influx of visitors this weekend for the New York City Marathon and for the annual Thanksgiving parade which takes place later this month.