Residents of Bronx building that partially collapsed say they "didn't know if the building was going to come down"
An explosion Wednesday morning in the Bronx left a massive, gaping hole in a high-rise.
Residents scrambled as the facade came tumbling down.
It happened at the Mitchel Houses, a NYCHA complex on Alexander Avenue in Mott Haven. Video shows an entire of the corner of the 20-story building rip apart.
Incredibly, no injuries were reported.
"I didn't know if the building was going to come down"
The damage means some residents have been forced from their homes. At the Mitchel Community Center, around the corner from where the explosion took place, residents have been coming in and out throughout the day to catch their breath and grab something to eat.
"A young man said 'Get on my back.' Four, five other people helped me down five flights of steps," resident Miss Duke said. "Very scary. And to be in the situation and be in the house by yourself and you're sick, it's not a good feeling."
One woman said she and her family ran down 18 flights of stairs.
"I didn't know if the building was going to come down because I saw the bricks falling," she said.
"The whole building just -- you heard a loud boom, and the thing just exploded, and it fell down just like that," one woman said.
"As we was going up the stairs, we just heard a boom. It sounded like a bomb," resident Angel Peay said. "Once it happened, I kind of, like, tripped. She tripped, too. And then we just ran out the building. I'm like, I can't believe this."
"I said, oh my god, the world is ending, and I started jumping because I have a panic attack," a woman said.
"Can't go back to the apartments because until they have an escort go with them to check out to see how much damage was done," resident Wendell Harrison said.
Red Cross assisting impacted residents
The Red Cross set up shop inside the Mitchel Community Center, and says it has registered 74 adults and 24 children across 31 households for emergency assistance. Services include meals, pantry items, help finding temporary lodging, mental health and health services.
Residents tell CBS News New York they're hoping to be back inside their apartments as soon as it's deemed safe to be so.
Officials said those living in roughly 40 units along the building's F and G lines will be temporarily put up in hotels.
"We have structural engineers have been doing an assessment of the foundation, the impacted wing and the roof. We have some demolition crews that are coming in to remove the remnants of the chimney," Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol said.
Those who have been displaced are still figuring out their next move.
"It's sad that we really, as New Yorkers, we gotta go through this, you know?" resident Tania Cruz said. "We never expect for something to happen like this, and going through it, it's just like, what's next?"
Officials say they're working to restore hot water and gas to the entire building. Those services were shut off as the investigation into the explosion continues.