Shortly before noon on Friday, the roof of a midtown building collapsed, killing one worker at the site and grievously injuring a second, the New York Post reports.
The building — in the process of being demolished so it could be turned into a posh hotel — was filled with construction workers. According to witnesses at the scene, there are still victims trapped in the building. Sixty-five firefighters, accompanied by 12 fire trucks, are on the scene attempting to pull out workers under the rubble. Two floors of the eight-story building — located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues on West 38th Street — may have collapsed under the weight of the caved-in roof. There are fears that the rest of the building may now be unstable, too.
The portion of West 38th Street near the building is completely sealed off and clogged with emergency vehicles.
