A building under demolition collapsed in New York today injuring at least five people, including a seven-month-old baby.
Five firefighters also suffered minor injuries during the rescue. The former supermarket on Manhattan's Upper West Side was being pulled down to make way for a 31-storey development.
Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said it was just a shell of a building. "The front wall came down, taking the scaffolding with it," he said. "It appears the heavy equipment on the roof undoubtedly contributed to it."
All workers escaped the site uninjured but the pedestrians were hit by falling debris on neighbouring Broadway.
More than 100 firefighters went to the scene at 9.25am (14.25 Irish time) and two helicopters hovered overhead. Emergency crews urgently sifted through the rubble a piece at a time, avoiding the use of heavy equipment so as not to injure anyone trapped underneath.
Shaken residents said there was a "huge gaping hole" where the building had stood. One said he saw several people hit by scaffolding, one completely submerged in the rubble and another crying for her baby. He said the child was blue as it was pulled from the debris.
Officials later confirmed she was in a stable condition and was expected to survive.
All victims were taken to hospital but were said to be in a stable condition after being hit with debris flung from the wreckage. One man broke both arms and both legs, police said.