NEW YORK (AP) — Firefighters scoured a mound of rubble to ensure no one was trapped Monday evening after a corner of a seven-story Bronx apartment building collapsed, leaving apartments exposed like a stack of shelves and a convenience store partly buried under bricks and wood.
There were no reports of injuries as of early evening and the proprietor of the ground floor shop said the people inside got out safely, city officials said. But firefighters used buckets, power tools and heavy equipment to pick through the debris, while officials kept a watchful eye on the portions of the building that remained standing.
“Our main objective is to get to the bottom of that pile,” Fire Department Chief of Department John Hodgens said at a news conference. “We’ll be here until it’s down to the street level, just to make sure if there are any victims under there, hopefully we can get to them in time.”
Officials were looking into what caused the collapse, which happened at a 1927 building that had been undergoing facade repairs.
A worker at a nearby deli, Julian Rodriguez, said he was behind the counter when he heard people screaming about a building collapse.
“When I went outside, all you could see is the debris and a smoke cloud in the street,” said Rodriguez, 22. “And you could see inside the structure: people’s beds, their doors, closets, lights, everything. It was really scary.”
A corner of the building stood with its walls sheared off and floors sagging, with a heap of debris spilling out into the street. In one apartment, a bed stood feet away from the edge of a floor that now jutted out into the air; in another, art hanging on the wall was visible. Elsewhere, an armchair rested on a floor that tilted precariously down, like the top of a staved-in box.
One of the collapsed rooms appeared to be a child’s bedroom. A tiny pink jacket hung on a hook. Boxes of playthings and clothing were visible on cabinets that still stood on the remaining parts of the…
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