KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Almost 40 years ago, 114 lives were lost in the Hyatt Skywalk Collapse in Kansas City, Missouri.
216 people were injured that day during a crowded Tea dance at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
“My heart goes out to all those people,” Brent Wright, who lost mom and stepdad in collapse, said. “Those family members, those friends, waiting, hoping. Trying to get through what is a terrible tragedy.”
Wright said he’ll never forget the day he got that life-changing call.
Hours after two skywalks collapsed, he learned his mom and stepdad didn’t make it out.
“Hearing something like that, knowing how they lost their lives, it’s unimaginable,” Wright said.
July 17 will mark 40 years since that dreadful day and Wright said it’s something he will never forget.
He said he was reminded of the numerous lives lost and injured when a condo in Surfside, Florida collapsed Thursday morning and killed multiple people.
While investigators have yet to determine an official cause for the condo collapse in South Florida, flawed engineering was ultimately determined to be the reason the skywalks fell at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Wright said due to the tragedy right here in Kansas City, he believes he has an idea of what these families are going through.
“Those poor people down in Florida, their lives will be changed forever,” said Wright.
The Skywalk Foundation will mark the 40th anniversary of the skywalk collapse during a ceremony on July 17, 2021, from 10:00 – 10:30 a.m. at the memorial, 2401 Gillham Road, Kansas City, Missouri.
