NEW YORK — New Ring camera video shows the moments when an apartment building collapsed without warning in New York City on Wednesday.
8 people died in the collapse, and another 18 were hurt.
The video shows an interior stairway shaking as the wall beside it fell with a loud crash and a cloud of dust.
The video later showed a firefighter helping a resident down those same stairs above a large gap filled with debris.
“Nice and easy,” the firefighter said as the person held the firefighter’s hand and the railing.
Dervie Mapp said he saw the building fall and felt helpless as the building crumbled.
“I saw the whole thing come down,” Mapp, a 67-year-old retiree, told The Associated Press on Thursday. “People were running up out of the pit, screaming and hollering. I couldn’t believe it — I froze.”
He said he saw bricks falling from a building next to the site before the entire building came down.
The collapse tore away a shared wall with the building next door. That building stayed standing, but people could see inside the apartments.
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Closets filled with clothing, a stuffed bear on a pile of shoes, and laundry on a pink bedspread were visible inside.
Rescue crews searched through mattresses, a broken sink, and a refrigerator missing its door. Food was jumbled inside the refrigerator.
Vinyl records, shoes, and other personal belongings were scattered in the rubble.
The building had a store that sold medical uniforms on the ground level and four apartments above it.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the victims included “parents and children, young families building their lives in our city and immigrants from Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Trinidad and beyond.”
The children have been identified as Nicole Daniela Salvada Rodriguez, 9 and Kevin Santiago Reyes Gonzalez, 10.
The Colombian consulate in New York said both children were Colombian nationals.
Police and the Ecuadorian consulate in New York said José Luis Caguana Cosquillo, 26, and Gabriel Siguencia, 22, were also among the dead.
Police said Juan Daniel Salvada Guzman, 31, Ndiaye Mamadou, 31, Barry Mamadou, 23 and Edgar Sapon, 26, also died.
Mamdani said construction workers who barely escaped started digging through the wreckage to free survivors. He said their actions saved lives.
He also said two construction workers were among the dead.
Carlos Caguana told WNBC-TV that his brother, Caguana Cosquillo, had a young child and a pregnant wife.
“He was the sole provider for the family,” Caguana said. “She’s completely overwhelmed and can’t even find the words to speak.”
Rescue crews continue to search through the debris for survivors.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.