Jun 22, 2009 12:33 pm US/Eastern
Tenants Of Collapsed B'klyn Building Now Homeless
Building Records Show Spotty History; City Investigating Official Cause Of Collapse
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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The aftermath of a four-story building collapse at Ryerson and Myrtle in Brooklyn, N.Y., June 21, 2009.
Irwin Chen, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
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Members of the FDNY and other rescuers respond to the collapse of a four-story building, visible on the right side of the image, at Ryerson and Myrtle in Brooklyn, N.Y., June 21, 2009.
Irwin Chen, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
Hard questions still remain after a four-story Brooklyn building collapsed on Sunday afternoon.
City officials said that the Myrtle Avenue building had a history of violations, and now the residents and their neighbors are homeless.
Six people lived in the building and lost everything they own. Resident Eric Williams returned on Monday morning to look at the pile of rubble where nothing could be salvaged.
"I lost everything," Williams told CBS 2.
It was just before 2 p.m. when Williams escaped from the apartment's walls, which were caving in on him.
"The building was coming down on me and by the time I got to the door, the building just collapsed," Williams said. "It came out of nowhere and happened in just 5 or 10 seconds."
Williams injured his leg running out, but said he wouldn't be standing there if it wasn't for his son, who called him just before the building came crumbling down.
"If it wasn't for my son calling to tell me he's coming to see me for Father's Day to have dinner, I would have been asleep and I would have been crushed," he said.
The building's owner, William Sang, told CBS 2 on Sunday that city inspectors had told him that tenants could stay inside his building as repairs were being made to a crack in the structure.
But on Monday, he declined to comment.
"I can't speak to anyone," Sang said. "I'm sorry."
Williams is now without more than just a home and he wants some answers.
"I just lost my job. They laid me off after 20 years," Williams said. "I have nothing anymore. I have nothing."
Inspectors are still trying to determine what caused the collapse. City officials said the building next-door to the one that collapsed suffered such significant damage that it will have to be demolished.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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