It is being reported that at least one person is dead, and multiple injured, after a parking garage collapsed in Lower Manhattan, New York on Tuesday (April 18).
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One Dead, Multiple Injured After Parking Garage Collapses In Lower Manhattan
According to New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Chief of Operations John Esposito, the garage, which sits next to a Pace University building, partially collapsed.
The upper levels of the three-story garage split around 4:15 p.m., which caused the cars sitting on the top levels to come crashing down onto the levels below.
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Following the incident, at least six parking garage workers were pulled from the collapsed building at 57 Ann Street, between Nassau Street and William Street. One person was pronounced dead at the scene, and five were injured, with one refusing medical treatment.
Chief Esposito added that one worker was trapped on an upper floor, but was conscious and alert, being able to call firefighters for help.
The man was soon rescued, and after all the other workers and firefighters who went in to grab them were all pulled out, they were transported to a nearby building for safety.
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Chief Esposito said, “We deployed our robot dog into the building they were able to give us a video inside and then we’re able to fly drones inside to conduct an assessment and conduct searches.”
In addition to the parking garage being cleared, the Pace University building that sits next to the garage has also been evacuated.
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According to first responders and FDNY officials, the building is completely unstable, and they will not send anyone else in until the building is safe to do so. They further state they have no reason to believe anyone else is still in the rubble, but have robot dogs on standby to continue any searches.
Elsewhere, New York City Department of Buildings records show that there was one open hazardous violation reported in 2008, which was for cracks noticed in the concrete.
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Recalling the scary incident that happened at the Lower Manhattan garage, one witness, Gabriel Yahoudaief, said, “We heard a really big boom, like something out of the ordinary it was just a really loud noise like something exploded. I saw people running out quickly from the scene, it was insane. Everyone was scared. Everyone thought that was their last time being alive.”
As mentioned, Pace University has evacuated their nearby building and the school announced earlier that all classes on the New York City campus would be canceled.
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