A mother and two children narrowly avoided serious harm when the walls and roof of their Brooklyn apartment suddenly caved in.
A mother and two children narrowly avoided serious harm when the walls of their Brooklyn apartment suddenly caved in.
Viral footage shows a young boy sprint past his infant brother and behind his mother when the building's foundation begins to give way. Moments later, the wall is shown crumbling as the mother screams in terror.
Anderson Velez, the two boys' father, was not home when the building collapsed. The Brooklyn resident told the Gothamist that he had just arrived at work when he received a gut-wrenching call from his wife shortly after the collapse.
Velez told the outlet that his wife begged rescue workers to pull her children from the rubble first.
Thankfully, all three survived, but Velez's 9-year-old son spent time in the intensive care unit after undergoing emergency surgery on his skull. His wife sustained rib, shoulder, and spine injuries, per the Gothamist. Miraculously, the infant was unharmed in the building collapse.
"I am still in shock," Velez said. "The truth is, I'm trying to be strong for my son. But I feel terrible."
Unfortunately, not all residents escaped the collapse unscathed.
Eight people are dead, and 18 are injured after part of a three-story building collapsed on Wednesday in Flatbush. Officials state that the deadly collapse happened around 4 PM ET.
Six of the victims died at the scene, and two others died overnight at the hospital, according to ABC 7.
The victims' ages range from nine to 31, and two of them were children. Six victims died at the scene, and two died overnight at the hospital. At least four remain in critical condition, per the outlet.
"I want to ask New Yorkers to please take a moment to pray for those who passed away today and all of those who are mourning their loss. As well as for a fast and full recovery for all those who were injured. We will continue to update New Yorkers with more information as we have it," New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani said Nov. 11 in a press conference.
"This has been an incredibly challenging and fast-moving situation. With precarious wreckage to navigate and dangerous voids beneath the surface. This type of rescue is exactly what the FDNY trains for," Mamdani said, adding that 250 firefighters and EMS personnel responded to the scene.
