Surveillance video captured a building partially collapsing, leaving three people injured in west suburban Aurora, Illinois, on Wednesday.
Video captured the moment scaffolding and part of a 122-year-old brick building's exterior wall fell onto the roadway, which Aurora police said occurred just after 6:30 p.m. in the 100 block of East Galena Boulevard.
The surveillance video shows a cloud of dust and debris growing as drivers and pedestrians react to the sudden collapse.
The three people who were hurt suffered minor injuries and are expected to recover.
A vehicle was buried under the rubble, but the city said no one was in the car or in the building when it collapsed.
City officials said the building has commercial space on the first floor and apartments on the second floor, but the portion that collapsed was vacant.
The building was inspected just four months ago, and officials said they found no structural concerns at that time, which is why city officials said getting to the bottom of what happened is going to take some time.
The building was being evaluated by a structural engineer and the building's insurance company while the cleanup was underway. The cause of the collapse is under investigation.
"Honestly, we were also a bit surprised by everything. We're still reviewing the video, trying to see if we can get anything additional out of it," said Jesse Kolar, Director of Building & Permits for the city of Aurora.
There were warning signs before the collapse. In 2025, part of the building's brick facade fell into the street.
Kolar said, at the time, an engineer determined the problem was with the "ties holding the exterior brick in place," but found no underlying structural concerns.
"The city has been out as recent as July of this year to inspect the building. There were no structural concerns at that time," he added.
So what changed?
"We don't know the why right now. We're just waiting for the architect and the construction engineer to come by and evaluate it and give us more of an idea of what happened," said Josh Alcaraz, Director of Property Standards for the city of Aurora.
That evaluation will help determine what happens next, including whether the building needs to be demolished.
For now, crews are clearing debris, securing the area and trying to keep nearby businesses open.
The building has been under construction for more than a year. The scaffolding had been put up just a few months ago after the building got a permit to address the previous issues with the facade, according to the city.
The property manager said a new restaurant was under construction on the first floor, and the residential units on the upper floors were vacant. The work was approved by the city.
Several streets around the building have been closed since the collapse, but it was not immediately clear when they would reopen.
