Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 28, 1990 TAG: 9003280382
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
The stories unfold as families arrange funerals here and in Central America. At a makeshift clearinghouse at a school near the burned-out club, they seek help from government and relief organizations as they mourn.
Herman Gamoneda remembered his cousins, 23-year-old Marco Gamoneda and 18-year-old Leni, as brothers who were also inseparable friends.
"They did everything together. They were always together. They worked together, they were going to school together. A couple of nice guys," he said.
They had arrived from Honduras two years ago and both attended Bronx Community College. Herman Gamoneda said they had never gone out together at night - until Saturday.
There were so many others.
Lester Orlando Cruz, in his early 20s, had come to New York 14 months ago, leaving behind his pregnant wife in Potrerillo Cortes, Honduras. She subsequently gave birth, but "he never saw his baby son. Only in pictures. He wanted to send for his wife and kid," said Carmen Rodriguez, a friend.
Juan Carlos Colon had been in New York since 1983. He was 18, a senior at a Manhattan high school, a good soccer player.
He wanted to be a video producer, and he used the video art to fight drug abuse. He was "a good, gentle boy. You'd often hear him warning young people to stay away from drugs," said his stepmother, Miriam Colon.
Each left behind a legion of mourners.
Lester McNab, 24, stood across the street from the social club on Tuesday and stared - he lost a dozen friends in the fire, and had planned to be there that night.
A young woman shouted out that her cousin was among the dead. "I was here at 12:30" the night of the fire. "I left here at 12:30. When I woke up, my mother told me she was gone."
by CNB