Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams has joined Councilmembers Jumaane Williams and Alan Maisel in expressing sadness over the death Sunday of three members of a Brooklyn church.
Three Haitian members of Bethesda French Seventh-day Adventist Church were killed upstate when a van carrying congregants from a religious retreat crashed.
The church serves Williams’ and Maisel’s Brooklyn districts. According to reports, three additional people in the van were hospitalized and one has been released. Their names were not disclosed.
“Last night, three members of Bethesda French Seventh-day Adventist Church were suddenly and tragically taken from us,” said Adams on Monday.
“The impact of their deaths, ever more painful considering that they were travelling home from a religious retreat when it occurred, will be felt throughout their respective communities,” he added.
“It is important that we, as One Brooklyn, honor their lives and all that they have done for their community and congregation,” Adams continued.
Williams, deputy leader and chair of the City Council’s Housing and Buildings Committee, and Maisel, chair of the Council’s Standards and Ethics Committee, said in a joint statement that they were “deeply saddened to hear of the traffic accident.”
Those killed included a teenager. They were returning from the Greater New York Conference Men’s Prayer Convention in Ellenville, New York.
“Our prayers for peace, comfort and healing are with the family and friends of those who passed, and additional prayers of healing for those still in the hospital,” Williams and Maisel said.
“The Bethesda French church is dealing with unimaginable grief, and our offices will do whatever we can to aid during this extremely difficult time,” they added.
“One thing is certain though, the Haitian men who have passed and those injured are examples for our community as great men of faith, and this church will be a bedrock as we move forward after this horrible loss,” Williams and Maisel continued.
