Firefighters used bucket ladders to evacuate 47 people from a Bronx apartment building after its staircase collapsed Saturday.
Miraculously, only one person — who picked the wrong time to walk down the stairs — was hurt in a three-story fall.
Jose Cochran, 20, who sustained a broken leg, “was literally coming down the stairs as they collapsed,” said his sister, Aurea Arias, who lives on the fifth floor.
Everyone who lives above the ground floor of the five-story building was forced to leave. Residents said they had no indication when they’ll be allowed to return, because the building has only one staircase.
“We can’t even go back to our apartment,” Arias said. “Everyone was sent to a hotel while the situation is figured out. [The building] has had its problems in the past.”
The Buildings Department was investigating.