Horrific footage captures moment NYC building collapses as terrified resident rushes down newly exposed staircase
Breathtaking video captured the moment a New York City building collapsed as a terrified resident rushed down a newly exposed staircase.
Ring footage obtained by James Williams showed the building connected to his as it detached and fell to the ground around 4pm on Wednesday in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
The clip showed a brown staircase standing alone as structural foundation to the right of it turned to dust. Wall decorations remained hanging on the walls after the collapse.
People were heard screaming in terror as chunks of the corner building flew into the exposed area and other pieces settled to the ground below.
An FDNY firefighter was seen surveying the immense damage from on top of the structure that remained standing.
A resident then came out of the unit right next to where the wall broke off and was slowly guided down the staircase by the firefighter, the video showed.
Officials confirmed that eight people died in the tragedy, including two children and two construction workers who were working at the site when the building came down.
Cousins Nicole Daniela Rodriguez, nine, and Kevin Santiago Reyes Gonzalez, 10, were killed in the accident, according to The New York Times.
Terrifying footage captured the moment a three-story building came tumbling down in Brooklyn on Wednesday around 4pm
A firefighter slowly guided a resident down the newly exposed stairs after the collapse
Gabriel Siguencia, 22, Mamadou Barry, 23, Edgar Santiago Sapón Gutierrez, 26, José Luis Caguana, 26, and Juan Daniel Salvada Guzman, 31, were also killed.
A 35-year-old unidentified man also died in the collapse, the outlet reported.
Another 18 people were injured, with one of them in critical condition, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Thursday. Four firefighters were also injured.
Rescue efforts ended late this afternoon after officials confirmed that no other victims were found in the rubble. The site has since been handed off to the NYPD and the NYC Department of Buildings.
Siguencia, an Ecuadorian national, had only just started working at the site after arriving in the US, his relatives told CNN.
He was a carpenter who started working on the project two weeks ago, they stated.
‘He came to America looking for the same opportunities that people from all over the world come here for,’ said family friend Javier Ortega.
Ortega drove Siguencia’s mother, Leonor Yupa, to the building site from her home in Connecticut after news broke of the collapse.
People were heard screaming in terror as chunks of the corner building flew into the exposed one and other pieces settled to the ground below
Eight people died in the tragedy, including José Luis Caguana, 26 (pictured). He was a devoted husband and father who leaves behind his wife, four-year-old son and his unborn baby, who was expected to arrive soon
Caguana was named on Thursday morning after his brother Carlos told Univision that he was a construction worker who moved to the US six years ago, also from Ecuador.
He was a devoted husband and father who leaves behind his wife, four-year-old son and his unborn baby, who was expected to arrive imminently, according to a GoFundMe page.
‘Now that he’s gone, she is going through an immense amount of pain. She is in a very bad state right now – she’s completely overwhelmed and can’t even find the words to speak,’ Carlos said of his now-widowed sister-in-law.
Ecuador’s consulate in New York City also acknowledged both their deaths and have offered support to their families.
Meanwhile, Gutierrez’s family were worried about him all night and even went to the morgue to see if he was there.
Marisela Vasquez, whose niece is married to Gutierrez, said they got the news when they arrived at the scene. He also left behind a six-year-old son.
An injured man, identified by his family as Alvaro Miguel Caizaguano Toasa, 29, was working his construction job when the collapse happened.
He had been working there for eight months, his family told ABC 7.
Rescue efforts ended late this afternoon after officials confirmed that no other victims were found in the rubble. The site has since been handed off to the NYPD and the NYC Department of Buildings
He has been vomiting blood and ‘not doing well’ while being treated at Kings County Hospital, they shared.
Toasa is a father to a three-year-old and a seven-year-old and the head of his household. His wife is also sick and cannot work.
The cause of the collapse is not yet known, but on Thursday it was revealed that the NYC Buildings Department previously determined that the structure was ‘in poor condition and riddled with cracks,’ the NYT reported.
The outlet has also revealed that the company behind the engineer of record for the foundation work of the building is LMW Engineering Group in Linden, New Jersey.
On Thursday, the firm’s office was practically empty and its owner and managing partner, Jieming Wang, was not in, per the report.
Wang has been with the company for more than 28 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The Daily Mail contacted LMW Engineering Group for comment.
