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Retaining Wall Collapses Behind 5-Story Bronx Apartment Building

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Some members of a Bronx community were displaced on Sunday after a high retaining wall collapsed right behind their building.

Cellphone video shows the moments after part of the 30-foot high by 60-foot long wall fell into the yard behind a Bailey Avenue apartment building, CBS2's Reena Roy reported.

"We were in the living room having breakfast and my fiancé was playing PlayStation and all of a sudden we heard everything shake," Deyanelin Galvez said.

Tenants in the five-story building said they heard some construction shortly before the wall came crashing down around noon.

"We looked out the window, we realized it collapsed. Workers were hammering and that's when it happened," Galvez said.

"I heard this tremendous shake and my building started to shake and just heard things collapsing and falling down," Charmaine Yates added. "I looked out (and) the entire back foundation wall had fallen."

Residents then rushed out of their apartments.

"People was running downstairs in the lobby, wondering," Yates said. "I was terrified. You see these things on the news and you don't think it's going to happen to you."

The FDNY arrived with minutes. Emergency workers scoured the debris with cameras and cadaver dogs and found no victims. Officials later confirmed that nobody was hurt, CBS2's Roy reported.

"There were reports we had three construction workers doing some kind of work. We're not sure what they're doing. The Department of Buildings is on the scene now conducting an investigation," FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Michael Gala said. "The three workers have been accounted for."

Tenants in two buildings were not immediately allowed to go home. The Red Cross was helping them find temporary housing if needed.

"Several apartments in both buildings have been vacated primarily because the fire escapes are no longer accessible," Gala said.

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