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Deck Collapse In Brooklyn Injures 16

By Tylie Eaves
Published on: 12:42 PST, Jun 5, 2016

A deck collapse in Brooklyn injured more than a dozen party goers. A report by NBC New York confirmed that, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, first responders were dispatched to a mansion on Bushwick Avenue when a deck collapsed during a party.

Authorities have confirmed that 16 people were transported to area hospitals with injuries sustained in the collapse. None of the injuries have been reported as life threatening. Many of the injuries sustained in the deck collapse were leg injuries and included both broken legs and broken ankles. The terrifying incident took place at the Cook Mansion in Bushwick, which was originally constructed back in the late 1880s.

According to Chief Dennis Murphy of the New York Fire Department, the deck collapse likely happened because of the age of the structure and rot. The deck was in a state of disrepair, which made it vulnerable to collapse.

A witness, Kirstyn Peterson, whose apartment is located across the street from the Cook Mansion, watched as rescuers and first responders rushed to provide aid to dozens of people. “When you saw them bringing stretchers and starting to mill through stuff, we realized there was, like, rubble and that’s when we realized and we saw the deck wasn’t there anymore,” Peterson said.

A second witness named Noah Prebish told reporters that the scene was chaotic. “We were about to walk into the party cause some of our friends were there,” he said, stating also that he was glad nobody had died in the incident.

A spokesperson for the New York City Buildings Department told NBC that the landlord for the Cook Mansion has been cited on a violation for failure to maintain the deck. As of now, the landlord has not issued a statement on the incident or responded to the validity of his pending violation.The details of this story are continuing to unfold. Please stay tuned to The Inquistr as we provide updates on this and other breaking news stories.

Update:

Reports from authorities who were on the scene at the deck collapse indicate that two of the individuals who fell during the incident did sustain serious injuries. The owner of the building will be fined, but officials are yet unsure how much that fine will be. Investigators said that there was no single or specific reason that the collapse occurred, but that old age and a lack of proper maintenance appeared to be the main cause of the accident.

Officials have confirmed that there were as many as 50 people on the deck when it collapsed, which indicates the scale of the incident. Witnesses say things could have been much worse and were relieved that no one was trapped under the structure. “It seems like the victims rode the deck down, no one was trapped under the deck,” said said FDNY Battalion Chief Dennis Murphy.

The building was named a historical landmark three years ago, and now inspectors will do a thorough investigation of the rest of the building to ensure it is safe for continued habitation. As of now, there has been no statement issued by the building’s owner and thus far there is no indication of pending legal charges beyond the fine. None of the victims have issued statements and as of yet no civil suits have been filed.

Stay tuned to Inquistr. We will continue to provide updates to this story if and when details become available.

[Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images]

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