Eight people are dead and more than a dozen injured after a three-story building in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood collapsed on Wednesday at the edge of an active construction site, officials said.
“I am heartbroken that eight New Yorkers have now lost their lives and at least 17 have been injured, including three firefighters,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a post on X early Thursday.
Rescuers worked under what Mamdani described as extremely dangerous conditions through the night to find and save anyone still trapped under the rubble.
“Please stay clear of the area and keep those affected, and our first responders risking their lives in these efforts, in your thoughts,” he added.
At a Wednesday press conference, Mamdani said that rescue workers had to contend with dangerous wreckage and risked falling into voids beneath the surface as they searched for survivors.
Four people pulled from the rubble were in critical condition, Mamdani told reporters.
“This has been an incredibly challenging and fast-moving situation,” he added.
There are still people trapped under the collapsed building, FDNY officials said, and rescue operations will continue for several days. At least 250 firefighters are on the scene working to rescue more people.
“We do not know how many people were missing overall,” said John Esposito, FDNY’s chief of department.
The FDNY was called to the scene around 4 p.m. ET after the three-story structure just south of Prospect Park partially collapsed.
Aerial footage captured firefighters freeing at least one person from the wreckage and loading him or her onto a stretcher.
The collapsed building sat at the edge of a lot where a one-story building had already been demolished. Debris from the building fell into and filled the open pit where excavation was underway.
An adjoining building that shared a wall stayed upright, yet that wall was torn off, exposing interior rooms, including a bedroom and closets still holding clothes.
Firefighters continued clearing the rubble by hand as dogs searched for survivors. After dark, rescue crews used flashlights to keep searching.
“As emergency operations continue, please join me in holding our neighbors and the members of this community in our hearts,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement posted on X.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) urged people to avoid the area around Bedford Avenue and Flatbush Avenue. The NYPD warned nearby residents to expect street closures and traffic delays and suggested they consider alternate routes.
The deadly collapse occurred months after a high-profile structural emergency in Midtown Manhattan, in which a 37-story building under conversion to apartments was at risk of collapse but was later stabilized.
In the July 7 incident, two structural columns buckled on the 21st floor of the former Pfizer headquarters at 235 East 42nd Street, with sagging floors and cracks also found. The building and several nearby properties—including a school and Israel consulate—were evacuated.
Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani later said the structure was stable after emergency shoring measures.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
