Anguish for hardhat killed in wall collapse

The Bangladeshi construction worker killed by a collapsing brick wall in Brooklyn was on his first day at the job, his roommate told the Daily News on Tuesday.

Jashim Mia, 39, died Monday when a retaining wall for a townhouse at 42nd St. near Fourth Ave. in Sunset Park gave way, burying him under piles of bricks and cement.

“He was a really good person, he always tried to help others,” said Abul Hashem, 36, one of his roommates, recalling nightly conversations with his friend.

“Like a big brother to me. I’m feeling very hurt.”

City officials said the job did not have the permits required to perform work on retaining walls of more than 5 feet.

“The workers were excavating the length of the retaining wall without adequate shoring, resulting in the wall’s collapse,” a Buildings Department spokeswoman said.

Mia moved to the U.S. 12 years ago and slept on a curtained-off bed in a modest second-floor apartment near Prospect Park he shared with Hashem and three other roommates. He spent most of his time working, his friend said, so he could send money home to his wife and son.

A second man was critically injured in the wall collapse.

Mia hadn’t been able to return to Bangladesh to see his family in the 12 years he’d lived in the U.S. because of his undocumented status, according to a Facebook post from another friend. “It’s a shame,” a neighbor living next to the collapse site said Monday. A life “lost for nothing.”

The Buildings Department said it had yet to confirm if a specific construction company was involved.