SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – Puerto Ricans held somber vigils and prepared to bury many of their own after authorities said nearly half of those killed at a gay nightclub in Florida had ties to the U.S. territory.
Officials said that while it’s still unclear how many of the 23 Puerto Ricans killed were born on the U.S. mainland or had moved there from the island, they expect many of them to be laid to rest in Puerto Rico in the coming days.
“We have a lot of family members who have lived in the United States for many years but they want their loved ones buried here,” Roberto Padua, sub-secretary of Puerto Rico’s State Department, which is helping organize the transfer of the bodies, said Tuesday.
The shooting early Sunday at the Pace club in Orlando that killed 49 people has shaken Puerto Rico’s gay community and shocked the U.S. territory as a whole.
“This is the worst tragedy for Puerto Rico’s LGBTT community in our history,” said Pedro Julio Serrano, a prominent local gay rights activist. “It’s devastating.”