Two men dead after found unconscious inside Little Italy stairwell, police say
LITTLE ITALY, Manhattan (WABC) -- Police are investigating after two men were found unconscious and unresponsive in a stairwell in Manhattan's Little Italy.
The men were found inside the building on 118 Mulberry Street between Canal and Hester St. just before 4 p.m. Saturday.
A 34-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. A 35-year-old man was taken to the hospital where he later was pronounced dead.
In the heart of Little Italy, packed with hungry patrons dining out on a warm spring evening, the piercing sound of a woman's anguish shook everyone to their core.
"It broke my heart -- I just offered them water but you can't do nothing else more than that. You can't imagine how they feel right now and even I'm sure they don't know what happened," said Buona Notte restaurant manager Betul Sinar.
Distraught loved ones waited outside an apartment building as the two bodies were removed by the Medical Examiner.
"We're traumatized," added Sinar.
Relatives say they were doing work at the building and were painting one of the apartments.
"She go upstairs, she check him, but she find him on the floor," said Maria Juarez.
Juarez, the girlfriend of one of the victims, and part of the same work crew, says the boss called the crew down for lunch, and the two men never responded. She says she is baffled by how this could happen.
Neither body had signs of trauma.
The Medical Examiner will determine the causes of death.
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