A building wall fell in Queens on Wednesday, hurting three people, two of them children.
It took place at 4:30 p.m. at Plaza Furniture on the Jericho Turnpike, which is between 245th and 246th streets.
According to the fire department, about 60 feet of the facade fell off, causing at least two stopped cars to hit the sidewalk and the curb. A video from Chopper 2 shows how bad the damage is.
Good Samaritans help lift debris off pedestrian
People who were there said that after the building fell, good Samaritans ran to help.
“A loud boom woke me up when I stopped at that light down there.” The only thing Victoria Craig saw when she turned around was smoke in the air and people running toward the building.
“We saw people in need and helped them.” “When I pulled over, they were trying to take off the front to make sure no one was inside,” said witness Jophry Philip. “Thank goodness there was only one person below. Thank God, when he came out, he was already standing on his own.
Bill Rashid, who owns Plaza Furniture, was one of the people who ran to help.
“Me and a couple of people, we moved the stuff around and we took the person out,” he added.
Police say that a 25-year-old passerby hurt his back.
Police say that two girls, one 11 years old and the other 13 years old, were sitting in one of the parked cars that was hit by debris. Both kids—the 13-year-old got hurt in the legs and the 11-year-old in the back.
The three people were taken to nearby hospitals with injuries that were not life-threatening.
“All I can say is the hand of God was there protecting him and protecting whoever was there because this could have been much worse,” he said.
It was seen that first responders sent a rescue dog into the rubble at one point to look for more victims, but none were found.
Vacate orders issued for 5 businesses
The city’s Department of Buildings says that in June, someone complained that the building wasn’t up to code and that there were holes in the roof and floor. It is not clear if any of this has anything to do with the fake falling down.
The store owner is still trying to figure out what went wrong.
“I just opened the store two weeks ago, and this thing happened,” he said.
Five businesses in the building were told to leave.
The DOB says it has talked to workers to figure out how bad the damage is while the investigation into what happened continues.
While police were at the scene, the westbound lanes of the Jericho Turnpike were stopped.
