A six-week-old baby was killed late Thursday morning after falling down an elevator shaft inside a Brooklyn high-rise.
"It's heartbreaking, honestly," said one resident of the building. "I don't know how to react to something like that."
The NYPD says a mother was pushing her infant, Areej Ali, in a stroller around 10:30 a.m. on the 23rd floor of 3415 Neptune Avenue in Coney Island.
Police say she called the elevator and when the doors opened, she went to get on, but there was no car.
Sources told NY1 that the mother, Aberaqed Al-Rabah, and the infant fell into the shaft.
The mother landed on her infant on top of the elevator cab, several feet below. The elevator then dropped several stories to the 17th floor.
Emergency responders transported Areej to Coney Island Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
"It's very sad. A young kid — they should have more precautions for these elevators," one man said.
Areej's grandfather, Salah Ali, said she and her mother were only at the building to visit relatives.
Reporter: How is this affecting your family?
"Very bad. Very, very bad," Ali said. "She's in bad shape. She's in bad shape, obviously."
The building is part of the Bay Park Complex, which has a total of 50 outstanding city buildings department violations.
Records show there have been at least eight complaints related to the elevators since January.
The elevator in question passed a major inspection in January and was re-inspected in August, when the only violation involved its phone. The buildings department said it could operate safely.
Building residents NY1 spoke with said the elevators repeatedly break down.
"When I first moved around here, my first month being here, I had gotten stuck in an elevator," said one resident.
"These elevators have been messed up for so long," another said.
One tenant says part of the problem is contractors using passenger elevators for equipment and materials.
"Every time an elevator goes with heavy equipment, metal, everything," she said. "This is no good."
The buildings department says the elevator will remain out of service until an investigation is completed.