A parking garage collapsed Tuesday in the financial district of lower Manhattan, killing
a worker.
The accident also left
five injured
and crushed vehicles after concrete floors fell on top of each other.
Video captured by a passerby showed cars dangling dangerously from the top floor of the three-story building, while people nearby described a
terrifying crash
followed by screams.
“It felt
like an earthquake
,” said Liam Gaeta, a student at nearby Pace University.
Other students said they saw vehicles fall from the building.
Authorities said a worker was trapped in one of the upper levels and
was rescued through a neighboring roof
.
Due to the collapse, the cars were left hanging.
The collapse occurred around 4:00 p.m. a few blocks from City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge, and about half a mile from the New York Stock Exchange.
The collapse left the building "completely unstable," Mayor Eric Adams told a news conference.
Firefighters had to withdraw due to the risks and instead conducted searches with a
drone and a robot dog
, Fire Department Chief of Operations John Esposito said.
The collapse occurred in the financial district of lower Manhattan.
Photo Reuters.
The building was “crushed,
it collapsed to the basement
,” Acting Urbanization Commissioner Kazimir Vilenchik said.
William Flashnick, 19, was inside a classroom at Pace University when he and his friend thought they heard an explosion and ran to a window to look.
As they opened the window a thick column of dust
rose up
.
Once it was cleared, they flipped down into the parking lot, where vehicles were flipped over and the upper level had been completely split open.
At first, Flashnick feared for their lives.
His first thought was of the World Trade Center, which towers over the neighborhood."We were scared, considering the history of this place, it's kind of scary," he said.
With information from AP
DB
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