FDNY: 4 People Suffer Minor Injuries When Elevator Suddenly Drops In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – There was a frightening fall in Brooklyn Friday when an elevator suddenly dropped with people inside.
The FDNY said it happened around 9:15 a.m. at a building on Flushing Avenue in Bushwick.
The elevator fell from the first floor to the basement level with four people inside.
"The cable snapped, it had to be something," one of the people told CBS2. "I heard it snap, then it just fell."
Each of the people in the elevator were taken to a hospital across the street with minor injuries.The building, which houses a non-profit for needy New Yorkers and a learning center which had 30 young kids inside at the time, was evacuated as a precaution.
"We had to evacuate the building. Our children did very well, everyone was out safely. We're very proud of our children and our staff and we thank god that everyone is OK," one woman said.
Another woman told CBS2 she was just about to get into the elevator right before it dropped, but changed her mind.
The Department of Buildings says it had issued a violation of the building's owner back in May after the elevator was found to be out of service. The agency says the elevator was repaired, and the situation was resolved less than two weeks later.
The elevator that dropped Friday most recently passed an inspection in July, according to the DOB. Late Friday, the department issued a violation to the building's owner for failure to maintain the elevator and has ordered that it not be used.