Relatives have confirmed that 40-year-old Benjamin Sotelo is the man found dead under the rubble of a parking garage roof that collapsed in East Vancouver on Thursday.
“We are shattered to pieces,” the victim’s older brother, Umberto Sotello, said on Sunday. “Yesterday we came from Mexico to bring my brother back.”
Umberto Sotelo said Benjamin loved to travel and lived his dream in Canada with his husband after becoming a Canadian citizen.
Benjamin Sotelo’s body was found around 5:45 p.m. Friday after a two-day search.
Sotelo said his brother is the regional human resources manager for Gizella Pastry, a business at the site of the parking lot collapse. He had been living in British Columbia for about six years, his brother said.
WorkSafeBC is investigating what caused the fatal workplace accident. Approximately 50 staff were involved in a search operation which saw a further eight people removed safely from the building.
Technicians are pictured during a rescue operation Friday, a day after a parking deck collapsed at a business on Lougheed Highway in Vancouver. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Fire officials said the collapse occurred while a skid steer was working on the roof of the building on Lougheed Highway around 1 p.m. Thursday. The loader and its driver fell together with the roof, leaving a hole measuring about 9 by 12 meters.
Two of the eight rescued people were taken to hospital. One of them has been confirmed as the driver of the truck, fire spokesman Trevor Connelly said.
Aside from the heavy machinery, crews have no other information about a possible cause, said Karen Fry, chief of Vancouver Fire and Rescue.
“What we have been told is that they are working in this area and a [skid-steer loader] went through the building,” Fry said.
Pictured is a mess of debris at the Lougheed Freeway building in Vancouver, a day after a parking deck collapsed into the space below. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
“Hard to take”
Umberto Sotello said his brother had many friends and liked to visit restaurants during his travels.
“Our phone is full of messages from his friends,” he said. “I appreciate all the calls, all the messages.”
“I want to thank the rescuers, all the firefighters, all the police who worked to save my brother,” he added. “The first hours were very difficult, but we appreciate the work they did.”
Sotelo said the family is working on next steps with the medical examiner, but hopes to get answers and accountability for Benjamin’s death and the condition of the building that collapsed.
“He was always smiling,” he said. “We want to know who is responsible for this. We want to know why this happened.”
“It’s so hard for us, so hard to accept.
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