A 22-year-old man was nearly killed when the brick facade of a building he was walking past suddenly collapsed, authorities said.
The victim was walking across the street from Queens Center Mall on 59th Street near 92nd Street in Elmhurst at around 4 p.m. when the top of a wall on the one-story building gave out, FDNY officials said.
Witnesses said the man was completely covered by the bricks.
“I heard this noise, like a car running into the building,” said Pierre Desruisseaux, 22.
“I turned around and bricks were falling. It happened in a matter of seconds. He couldn’t breathe.”
The man was taken to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition and treated for head wounds.