Six people injured after building collapses in New Jersey

A building collapsed at a housing complex in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday, leaving six people injured and three apartments destroyed.

Newark Police and firefighters responded to the building collapse at the Newark Housing Authority property on South Pine Lane at about 6 p.m. 

The incident injured six people, including one who was seriously injured, according to Fox 5 NY. Five victims were taken to the hospital while one refused medical attention. The seriously injured victim was taken to the burn unit at Saint Barnabas Hospital, officials said.

Thirteen families were displaced from their homes because of the collapse. They have been relocated to hotels and provided food as investigators sort through the debris at the property funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Red Cross was also offering assistance at the scene.

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“It’s a traumatic event. I spoke to a few residents who have obviously been displaced because of this. The city is being fully supportive of the Housing Authority to make sure we can provide what we can,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said at a news conference.

“These residents will not be able to come back to this property until we can make an assessment that it is in fact safe,” he added.

People inside the building could feel the reverberation from the collapse through their floors and walls while windows flew nearly a hundred feet from the apartments, according to Fox 5 NY. Shards of glass were seen covering the building’s parking lot.

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“All of a sudden, my door just flew open, and my lock came off,” a resident told the outlet. “I was scared, I couldn’t move.”

Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Frage said at the news conference that crews turned off the complex’s gas to investigate what caused the collapse. Officials could not confirm whether the damage was prompted by a gas explosion.