Key facts
- The collapse killed at least eight people and injured at least 17, including three firefighters, per Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
- Four people were critically injured, officials said, and at least seven children were among the victims.
- About 250 first responders from the New York City fire department worked through dangerous conditions, Mamdani said.
- The FDNY said in an emailed statement to the New York Times it was still hopeful of locating survivors.
- NY1 reported the buildings department recorded issues with a project next door in May, including work under a stop work order.
Rescue crews continued searching for survivors in the rubble of a collapsed three-story residential building in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday morning as the death toll reached eight, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a post on X. The building, on the edge of a construction site in the borough's Flatbush section, collapsed at about 4pm on Wednesday.
Authorities in New York City said at least 17 people were hurt, including three firefighters, and four were critically injured. At least seven children were among the victims, but it was not clear whether any of those killed were minors. About 250 first responders from the New York City fire department worked through what Mamdani called extremely dangerous conditions to find anyone still trapped. The department, in an emailed statement to the New York Times on Thursday morning, said it was still hopeful of locating survivors. Lillian Bonsignore, the FDNY commissioner, told a Wednesday evening press conference that crews were not finished at the site.
Workers brought in an excavator in the early hours of Thursday to move larger pieces of wreckage. Drones and canine units were aiding the effort. Video from Wednesday night showed crews removing people on stretchers; one person covered in dust was pulled out at about 6:30pm after a crew dug a hole through debris. WABC, a New York ABC News affiliate, reported that a six-months' pregnant woman was among those rescued, and her husband told the station: "I have an update. She is alive, she is still alive. I am very happy."
The collapsed building sat at the edge of a lot where a one-story building had been torn down for a construction project. The site was being excavated, and the rubble filled the pit with bricks and wood. A building sharing a wall remained standing but lost its wall, exposing rooms inside. Investigators from the city's department of buildings were at the scene and began an investigation into the cause.
NY1 reported that the department recorded multiple issues in May with a project next door, including working while a stop work order was in place, insufficient overhead protection for neighboring properties, and failing to conform to approved construction drawings. NY1 also said the department of housing preservation and development had recorded almost 100 violations at the collapsed building dating to 1972. Property records list the building as a three-story structure with four residential units and one commercial unit.
Heavy rain with a chance of thunderstorms and gusty winds was forecast for the borough from lunchtime through Thursday afternoon. Several people made homeless by the collapse took shelter in the Bethesda Church of God in Christ opposite the site.