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Construction Workers Injured in Brownsville Building Collapse

By  Janon Fisher and Gustavo Solis | February 26, 2014 2:29pm | Updated on February 26, 2014 4:52pm

 A three-story building under construction in Brownsville collapsed Feb. 26, 2014, the FDNY said.
A three-story building under construction in Brownsville collapsed Feb. 26, 2014, the FDNY said.
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Roy Renna/BMR Breaking News

BROWNSVILLE — A vacant three-story house under construction "pancaked" early Wednesday afternoon, injuring eight construction workers, witnesses and the FDNY said.

The third floor of the building at 1916 Prospect Place near Eastern Parkway crumbled down to the first floor about 1 p.m., according to fire officials.

All the victims were taken to Kings County Hospital and Brookdale Hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

"I saw them laying on the floor, one of them was bleeding from the head," Leslie Barker, 46, who has lived next to the building for three and half years. She said that the accident happen as soon as the workers arrived.

Barker said that the building had been vacant for many years and is considered a rat-infested nuisance in the neighborhood.

"We don't come out at night. That's how bad it is," she said of the rat problem.

No permits had been issued to the building owner Rockshore Construct Corp. of Jamaica for construction or renovations, according to a Department of Buildings spokeswoman.

The DOB issued ordered all work on the building stop and it be torn down. The Environmental Control Board fined the owner for not having a work permit.

 

 

The Department of Buildings did not immediately respond to a request for comment.