Two children were among the eight people killed after a New York City apartment building collapsed, officials said Thursday, as rescuers fought the rain in their continued, frantic search for possible survivors.
asserted
rescuers → kill → survivors
“We will be here until we are 100% sure there are no more people trapped,” FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore told reporters.
asserted
Bonsignore → be → reporters
“To be clear, we have not shifted from rescue to recovery.
asserted
we → shift → recovery
Six of the eight killed were pronounced dead at the scene, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.
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Mamdani → kill → scene
Two others died at the hospital.
asserted
others → die → hospital
Before meeting with reporters at the scene, Mamdani said he visited victims recovering at the hospital.
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he → meet → hospital
“This has been a very dark evening and morning for our city,” he said.
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he → say → city
“We are mourning too many people who we loved, and as we grieve and as we rebuild, we will do so together as one city.”
asserted
we → mourn → city
The half-dozen dead adults also included a pair of construction workers, according to the mayor.
uncertain
adults → include → mayor
There were 18 people injured, four of those were firefighters and 14 were civilians.
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14 → be → those
One of those injured was listed in critical condition.
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One → injure → condition
“This is a devastating tragedy for New York and our prayers are with those who are recovering in the hospital and those who have died,” Bonsignore said.
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Bonsignore → recover → hospital
“The FDNY mourns with those families and we promise, with everything we have, we will not stop working until everyone is rescued or recovered.”
asserted
everyone → mourn → everything
The three-story apartment building came down at about 4 p.m. EST Wednesday, triggering a massive response from firefighters and other rescuers.
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building → come → firefighters
Rescuers will be using heavier excavation equipment on Thursday that should be able to locate more bodies or survivors, officials said.
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officials → use → bodies
“We we always assume that there are more people there until we can access the ground,” Bonsignore said.
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Bonsignore → assume → ground
“So until we’ve removed some of the bigger, bigger debris and are able to search beneath them, this will remain a rescue operation.”
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this → remove → them
The steady rain that pelted New York City on Thursday could slow rescue efforts but Bonsignore insisted that crews will fight through this challenge.
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crews → pelt → challenge
“We are in the middle of a rainstorm but that will not stop our operations here,” she said.
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she → stop → operations
“It will definitely hinder our efforts.
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It → hinder → efforts
But this type of an emergency is something our members train extensively for.”
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members → train → emergency
The collapsed building, with a business on the ground floor and two stories of residential units above, was next to an excavation site where single-floor building had been cleared.
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building → clear → site
“We will find out what happened and we will share that information with New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.
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Mamdani → find → Yorkers
There were “five main entities,” connected to that excavation project with crews from those companies working at about 100 construction sites around New York City, Mamdani said.
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Mamdani → be → City
“Our Department of Buildings is commencing sweeps of those sites today,” Mamdani said.
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Mamdani → commence → sites
The ongoing search also impacted neighboring residences with “water mains” shut down to 100 nearby buildings “so emergency crews can continue search and rescue operations,” according to a New York City Environment Protection statement on Thursday.
uncertain
crews → impact → Thursday
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the collapse but investigators will likely pay equal attention to the fallen building and the excavation site next door.
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investigators → cause → building
Owners of that emptied property had been cleared to dig a maximum of 14 feet down, according to a building application.
uncertain
Owners → empty → application
The Aporia
