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'There was just a huge boom!' 1 person killed and 6 injured in NYC parking garage collapse

All of the injured were working inside the building when it collapsed at 35-37 Ann Street, Lower Manhattan

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: In a horrifying tragedy, one person was killed and multiple others were injured after a parking garage collapsed in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday, April 18. All of the injured were working inside the building when it collapsed at 35-37 Ann Street. Shocking footage from the incident shows multiple cars sliding into a gaping hole in a concave roof as slabs of concrete plummeted through a lounge area for garage employees.

“At this time the building is completely unstable,” Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference at the scene. Authorities are continuing to investigate the harrowing plight and sent in drones to survey the garage as well as a Boston Dynamics robotic dog. Six people were hurt in total but only five of them were taken to the hospital after one refused medical attention. One of the victims was carried away on a stretcher.

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What really happened?

A parking garage under a four-story building suddenly collapsed on Tuesday, sending New Yorkers into panic mode. The building had active violations dating back to 2003, NYC Department of Building Acting Commissioner Kaz Vilenchik said. The building also had active permits, one of which was related to electrical work, but the building was not under construction. The collapse affected the entire four-story building, with some cars plummeting to the cellar. “There was a worker who was trapped on the upper floor. He was conscious and alert and moving around calling us,” John Esposito, the FDNY chief of operations, said.

“He just couldn’t get down. We were able to put firefighters up there in the building to take him down across the roof of another building,” reported New York Post. Officials are continuing to investigate and believe all workers are accounted for. “We’re continuing to do searches. There are some cars in there that are crushed. We’re trying to see if we can get up close to make sure there’s nobody in those cars,” Esposito added.

The building continued to crumble as the FDNY was conducting its search, forcing firefighters to evacuate the building. The FDNY sent in drones and their Boston Dynamics robotic dog saying, “Thank God we had the robotic dog that was able to go in the building. This is ideally what we talk about not sending a human being inside a building as unstable,” Adams said.

'It almost felt like a lift or an elevator just went down and collapsed!'

A 22-year-old who works next door and spoke in anonymity said the collapse “came out of nowhere.” “We heard a loud noise and we knew it wasn’t safe,” they said. “We looked down from the window and saw a lot of smoke coming so we figured something went down but we obviously don’t know what it was. Everyone just started rushing.” “There wasn’t as big of a shake as an earthquake I would say. But it almost felt like a lift or an elevator just went down and collapsed.” Pace University, located near the collapse, canceled all of its classes for the rest of the day. Student Jadess Speller, 19, who was attending a lecture said he heard what sounded like an “explosion.” “There was just a huge boom, and I was like, ‘What the hell was that?’ We saw smoke rising, heard a man screaming, a woman screaming. There was debris and we saw cars pilled on top of each other.”