New York, New York - A Bronx intersection was turned into a site of destruction Monday afternoon when a seven-story building partially collapsed, prompting firefighters to dig through a pile of rubble hours later in search of victims who may be trapped, according to officials.

First responders raced to the scene of the destruction on Billingsley Terrace near Phelan Place in Morris Heights just before 3:40 PM EDT police said.

"In front of the building where the building collapses, there's a large debris pile," FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens said at an evening news conference. "And we don't know if anybody's trapped under there, hopefully not."

New York Mayor Eric Adams said initial investigations suggested that the first floor of the building was unoccupied at the time of the incident.

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The emergency workers were tunneling into the rubble as safely as they can, he added.

Later on, the FDNY posted an update on X, saying "no victims" had been found after hours of sifting through the ruins. Two people were reported to have suffered "minor injuries."

A man who works in a bodega across the street watched as two men worked on the building – which was under construction at the time, according to Department of Buildings officials – just before the collapse.

"Before it came down, the scaffolding started creaking, then the whole thing started coming apart," Ahmed Bendary told the New York Daily News. "People were screaming."

One of the men working on the building quickly left as warning noises started, but the other kept on drilling.

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"When it started coming down, he jumped immediately and ran across the street," Bendary recounted. "It just missed him. He was almost killed."

The bodega employee stepped outside and watched as a line of bedrooms fell to the street below.

"Big rocks started coming down from the building," he said. "Then it went down floor by floor in a second."

In March 2021, inspectors found the building had unsafe facade conditions, deteriorating mortar and cracked bricks, Department of Buildings Commissioner James Oddo said at the news conference.

There are seven open violations, none of them structural, according to Oddo.

Blueprints for the ongoing construction appeared to focus on the very corner of the building that collapsed Monday, he said.

"Obviously, we'll take a strong look at that," he added. "Our engineers and our inspectors hope to be able to get into the building once given the green light by the FDNY to get in the building."