Status: 04/19/2023 09:46 a.m
A parking garage collapsed in New York while several people were inside. At least one person died and several were injured. The cause of the disaster in Manhattan’s financial district is still unclear.
At least one person died when a parking garage collapsed in New York. Officials said five others were injured. The multi-storey building in the financial district in Manhattan “collapsed down to the basement” in the afternoon (local time), said the current head of New York building management, Kazimir Vilenchik, at a press conference on site.
Video footage was released online showing collapsed walls and cars stacked on top of each other. Smoke seemed to be rising above the rubble. The outer walls of the parking garage were still standing. However, New York Mayor Eric Adams said there were fears that other parts of the building would collapse.
Search for trapped people
Because of the danger of collapse, all rescue workers had to leave the parking garage, as fire chief John Esposito said. With a robot and drones, the building will continue to be searched for people who may be trapped. The New York citizens were asked to avoid the area around the accident site.
Operations manager Esposito said at the press conference that, according to information from the authorities, six workers were in the parking garage at the time of the accident. “Four of them were taken to the hospital in stable condition,” the firefighter said. “We have a patient who died.” The sixth person concerned refused medical treatment.