15-Year-Old Girl Dead, 3 Hospitalized After Building Partially Collapses During Graduation Party: ‘Unthinkable Tragedy’

A 15-year-old girl has died and three others are injured after a building partially collapsed while a graduation party was taking place in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

At around 5:34 p.m. local time on Saturday, June 7, police and firefighters received multiple reports of people trapped under a concrete stairwell that had detached from the Portuguese American Citizens Club on Power Street, according to NBC 10 Boston and 7 News Boston.

“There were 75 people inside the building at the time, and it appears several were on the landing when it collapsed,” CBS News reported, citing Portsmouth assistant fire chief Howie Tighe. A 15-year-old girl died, while two 17-year-old girls and a 49-year-old woman were rushed to Rhode Island Hospital with significant injuries, per the outlet.

“So the immediate rescue of two of the injured parties was pretty quick,” Tighe told CBS News. “They weren’t necessarily trapped in a real complicated manner. 

“Then there were the two that were significantly trapped, and obviously one of them took upwards of 45 to 50 minutes because of the amount of cribbing we had to do, trying to lift the concrete wall up because she was trapped underneath it,” he said. 

Around the time of the incident, Gov. Dan McKee said in a post on X that his team is “closely monitoring the situation. “Our hearts are with the Portuguese community and all those impacted. I’m deeply grateful to the first responders and praying for everyone’s safety,” he added.

Police have not formally identified the 15-year-old girl, per NBC 10 Boston. The building’s stairwell has been removed from the grounds amid an investigation being led by the Portsmouth building inspector, according to the outlet.

“We routinely practice building collapse scenarios and other scenarios, but when it occurs, it can be a stress point for them all,” Portsmouth Chief of Police Brian Peters told NBC10 Boston affiliate WJAR. “It’s standard practice for us in our department when we have a fatal incident or a critical incident that the town has been really good at having counseling available to us, and the men and women take advantage of that.”

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A memorial for the 15-year-old girl, a Portsmouth public school student, was held on Sunday. Pastor David Chatowsky said he did not know the victim personally, but told WJAR that he “prayed for the parents and I prayed for the people that are hurt.”

“We have to help them out, we can do that through prayer, visiting them, and visiting them at the hospital and showing compassion,” Chatowsky added.

The Portsmouth Portuguese American Citizens Club shared their sympathy in a post on Facebook.

“It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we acknowledge this unthinkable tragedy that has befallen our community,” the club’s statement read. “The Portsmouth Portuguese American Citizens Club has always taken pride in providing a venue at which our community can congregate and celebrate. 

“Words, neither written or spoken, can express the sorrow with which we are all stricken,” the statement continued. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all involved and affected. This tragedy has shaken us all to our core.  

They concluded, “We would like to express a debt of gratitude to our first responders and law enforcement in the town of Portsmouth and neighboring communities.”

Portsmouth police and Portsmouth’s fire department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Monday, June 9. 

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