On Tuesday, a parking garage in lower Manhattan’s Financial District collapsed, killing one worker and wounding five others, in addition to crushing automobiles as the concrete floors of the garage pancaked on top of one other, according to authorities.
Several automobiles crashed into what seemed to be a frozen river of sedans and sport utility vehicles. Screams were heard shortly after a terrifying rumble that was heard by neighboring residents.
When Ahmed Scott got home from work and went to retrieve his vehicle, he saw a catastrophe in the making.
Someone can be heard shouting “Guard! 911! 911! There’s a building collapsing on Ann Street,” in the background of a video that he took from the other side of the roadway. After another forty-five seconds or so, two ladies can be seen running out of the building and claiming that it collapsed while they were within it. A guy is seen on top of a fire escape as onlookers attempt to figure out how they might assist him get down.
Scott recounted thinking to himself, “I hope ain’t nobody else in there,” expressing his concern for the employees of the garage he had gotten to know.
According to Jadess Speller, a student at the adjacent Pace University, the collapse “felt like an earthquake — like the earth opened up inside. … That’s how violent it was.” Some of the other kids said that they saw automobiles falling in the building.
John Esposito, the chief of operations for the Fire Department, said that although the authorities felt they had accounted for everyone inside the structure, searches resumed Tuesday evening to make certain that no one was trapped in any of the crushed vehicles. According to him, after being stuck on a higher level, one of the garage’s employees was rescued by climbing onto an adjacent roof.
