The roof of La Tienda Amigo, almost directly across from the Gateway Bridge had collapsed into a huge heap of debris after a brief but torrential summer downpour. The store had stood for decades, a popular discount-clothing store where many local residents and shoppers from Matamoros across the river had shopped in the days before power retail centers and expansive malls turned Brownsville into a carcass of what it used to be.
But on that day, July 7, 1988, La Tienda Amigo was no more than a giant mound of debris, trapping dozens of shoppers and others seeking refuge from the rainstorm.
News reports of the day indicate that for the next three days, firefighters and rescue workers converged on the disaster site, doing all they could to find survivors while making the grim discoveries of those who had perished under the rubble. The collapse of La Tienda Amigo would leave 14 people dead, 47 others injured, and enduring memories of tragedy and grief for those lost while marveling at how a city rallied to help those in need.
Witnesses now recall the real-life drama of heroic rescue efforts. Onlookers and rescuers cheered and clapped when those working tirelessly to find survivors pulled out a live victim. The elation, however, would fade to dark silence when the next body recovered was simply a recovery, not a rescue.
We thank one of our avid seven readers for ending us these unique pictures of the store before and after the disaster.)