A retaining wall collapsed behind a large apartment building in the Bronx on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of two buildings and displacing 40 people, officials said.
Part of a 60-by-30 foot wall collapsed behind a five-story building on Bailey Avenue in the Jerome Park neighborhood, just a block from the Major Deegan Expressway, fire officials and police said.
When it fell, it broke windows of a basement apartment, fire officials said.
Deyanelin Galvez, who lives in the building, took video on her phone of a collapsed wall behind the building. On the video, she says the building had been working on the back area of the yard "and now the whole thing has collapsed."
"Outrageous," she said. "I knew that was going to happen."
No one was injured or reported missing, officials said. Authorities used cameras and dogs to search the rubble.
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"We have done thorough primary and secondary searches and are also knocking on everyone's door in the buildings to confirm that no one is missing," FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Michael Gala said. "The reason the wall collapsed is still under investigation."
Forty people have been displaced by the wall collapse, a spokesman for the Red Cross told NBC New York. The Red Cross is providing assistance to those who were affected, he said.
Tenants who live on the first floor of the building said authorities told them they won't be able to return home tonight.
The building's two fire escapes were unusable after the collapse, police said.
A partial vacate order remains in effect at the two buildings affected by the collapse, a Department of Buildings spokesman said.
