One construction worker dead, 2 others injured in Harlem building collapse

A worker was crushed to death this morning and two others were injured after a building collapsed in Harlem, authorities said.

The construction workers were demolishing the one-story building at 604-606 West 131 Street near Broadway at 7:51 a.m. when the accident occurred, police said.

The deceased was identified as 69-year-old Juan Ruiz Sr.

His wife, Francisca Ruiz, sobbed uncontrollably at their home in the Bronx, crying out for her husband as relatives wept with her. She wasnt able to speak as family members held her shaking hands.

"He was a great person and a great father, Ruizs son, Juan Ruiz Jr., said. He was a man of his family and a man of his work. I am very sad and we are all very sad today.

The building, which is owned by Columbia University, is part of a plan on the part of the Ivy League school to expand across a section of upper Manhattan.

One shaken worker, holding a safety helmet covered in soot, said the building tumbled even before they began razing it.

I dont know what happened, said a confused Keith Henry, 54, a machine operator who was inside the building minutes before it fell. The whole thing was falling and nobody touched it.

A resident who witnessed the crash from his apartment window said it sounded like an explosion.

I saw the concrete wall just falling down on the workers, said Willy Katende, 46. Everything just crumbled. Bricks were falling. It sounded like a bomb it came down so fast.

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One construction worker dead, 2 others injured in Harlem building collapse