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http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFre
NEW YORK -- A supermarket under demolition partially collapsed yesterday, sending rubble onto a busy sidewalk and into the street. Five passersby, including a seven-month-old baby, were hurt.
One person suffered breaks to both arms and both legs, but no one's injuries were life-threatening, officials said.
Firefighters dug through the debris by hand to free the victims after the 9 a.m. collapse echoed in the upper Manhattan neighbourhood.
The front wall and the building roof came down, taking surrounding scaffolding with it, fire commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said at a news conference near the building.
Racquel Gayle said she was about half a block from the site when she heard the boom.
"Everything rocked," she said. "I thought it was a terrorist bomb; people were running everywhere."
She said she saw people pull a baby out of the debris, "but I stood frozen in fear. I've never seen anything like this."
At least 30 fire department units responded to the collapse, and five firefighters were injured during the rescue efforts. The 25 construction workers at the site were accounted for, fire officials said.
Demolition began weeks ago on the former Gristedes supermarket, and the plan to put a highrise building in its place has drawn protests from neighbourhood residents.
The city building department had no record of complaints or violations related to the demolition, spokesperson Jennifer Givner said.
