US: At least 1 dead, 5 injured after parking structure collapses in Manhattan

At least one worker died and five others were injured after a four-story parking facility collapsed in New York City's lower Manhattan near Pace University and the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday (April 18). Footage shared by the news agency Reuters on Wednesday showed a rescue operation underway and multiple cars stacked on top of one another amid crumpled slabs of concrete.

John Esposito, the chief of fire operations at the New York City Fire Department, said that one worker was pronounced dead on the scene, four more were hospitalised for injuries, and a sixth individual who was injured denied medical treatment. Esposito described all six people as workers who were inside the parking structure when it collapsed.

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"This was an extremely dangerous situation for our firefighters," Esposito told reporters, adding firefighters ordered out of the structure were still inside conducting searches as "the building was continuing to collapse." The chief of fire operations said robotic devices were then deployed.

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Meanwhile, authorities said that Pace University, a private college campus whose students, faculty, and staff used the parking structure, was evacuated as a precaution.

'It all happened so fast': Eyewitnesses recount collapse

As per the Reuters, report, eyewitnesses said the collapse (of the parking structure) was swift and without warning. "It all happened so fast," said Thai Nguyen, who lives in Chinatown and is a manager of the nearby Kollective Klub, told the news agency. "Our store is two buildings from the parking garage, and we also have a hotel next to us. People ran inside asking if they could take refuge inside our store," Nguyen, 35, added.

Sandy Imhoff, who lives in an apartment on the same street, said she fled her home with her two cats when her building began to shudder from the force of the collapse. Imhoff added that everyone in her building was able to evacuate.

Online records from the New York City Department of Buildings showed that the parking structure, at the site of the collapse, was cited for 45 violations, including 25 since 2003, many related to its elevators. A filing in 2003 said ceiling slab cracks existed as well as defective concrete with exposed rear cracks. The filing also said that a penalty of $800 was paid for the violation.

(With inputs from agencies)

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