Rescue operations continued into the early hours of Thursday as authorities searched for survivors in the wreckage of a collapsed residential building in Brooklyn. The death toll had risen to eight, with at least 17 others reported injured after the three-story structure gave way on Wednesday afternoon.
New York City officials stated that the building, located on the edge of a construction site in the Flatbush section, collapsed at approximately 4 pm on Wednesday. Among the injured were four people in critical condition. At least seven children were counted among the victims, though it remained unclear at the time if any of the fatalities were minors.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed his grief over the tragedy in a social media post on Thursday morning. He described the loss as heartbroken and noted that at least three firefighters were among the injured. The mayor urged the public to stay clear of the site on Flatbush Avenue, where conditions were described as extremely dangerous for the approximately 250 first responders working to free trapped individuals.
The Fire Department of New York indicated in a statement that there was still hope of locating more survivors. In the early hours of Thursday, workers utilized an excavator to move large sections of the debris. The operation also involved the use of drones and canine units to assist in the search effort.
Footage from the scene showed rescue teams removing several individuals on stretchers. One person, covered in dust, was extracted around 6:30 pm after crews dug through the debris. Another survivor was a woman who was six months pregnant. Her husband had been searching for her throughout the late afternoon. He told local news outlets that he was overjoyed to learn she was alive.
Dozens of onlookers gathered near the site, some in tears, to watch the ongoing rescue. FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore told reporters on Wednesday evening that the work was far from finished and would likely take a significant amount of time to complete. The urgency of the situation was heightened by a weather forecast predicting heavy rain, thunderstorms, and gusty winds moving through the borough from lunchtime through Thursday afternoon.
Residents displaced by the collapse found temporary shelter at the Bethesda Church of God in Christ, located across from the site. The collapsed building had been situated at the edge of a lot where a neighboring one-story building had been demolished for a construction project. The falling structure filled the construction pit with bricks and wood.
An adjacent building that shared a wall with the collapsed structure remained standing, though its shared wall was severed, exposing interior rooms such as bedrooms and closets. Investigators from the city's department of buildings began examining the cause of the collapse. Reports indicated that the neighboring construction project had recorded multiple issues in May, including work performed under a stop work order and a lack of proper overhead protection.
The city's housing department had recorded nearly 100 violations at the collapsed building dating back to 1972. Property records identified the structure as a three-story building containing four residential units and one commercial unit. The Associated Press contributed to the reporting on the incident.
