Shelves Collapse At Discount Store In New York City, Injuring 8

Eight people were hurt -- including seven seriously injured -- when the shelving apparently collapsed at a discount store in the Bronx.

Three of the injured are children, according to local media reports.

“I was walking toward the back and all I heard was this thunderous loud noise,” Norma Villafane, 59 told The New York Post. “I turned and shelves fell onto one gentleman.”

The incident happened at a store called Discount Outlet. Neighbors tell DNA Info New York that the store's aisles are cramped and the shelves overloaded with merchandise.

Images show a scene that looks like something from a natural disaster or a building collapse, but city officials told local media that the structure itself wasn't damaged. Only the shelves appear to have fallen.

“We had a shelving collapse in the store in the center aisle,” Fire Chief Anthony Montera told CBS New York. “It created a cascading effect. It took down two or three more aisles, and we had the customers in the store -– some of them hurt by the debris coming down on them. We removed it. We got seven people out of the debris, all in the early stages.”

None of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening.

"You could hear the screaming," Lucy Tirado, who was standing outside the store while her husband was shopping inside, told NBC New York. "I could hear the lady screaming because her kids were under that mess."

Tirado's husband suffered broken bones.

Officials are investigating the cause of the incident.