Eight Killed in Brooklyn Building Collapse as Rescue Continues

At least eight people were killed and 17 others were injured after a three-story mixed-use building in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood collapsed into an adjacent construction site on Wednesday afternoon, according to the New York City Fire Department and Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue, which had a store at street level and apartments above, came down just after 4 p.m. Eastern and fell into an open excavation at 2625 Bedford Avenue, ABC7 New York reported. The Fire Department said six people were found dead at the scene and two died at a hospital, CBS New York and ABC7 reported. Four of the victims recovered Thursday morning were believed to be construction workers, ABC7 said.

Mamdani wrote Thursday that he was “heartbroken that eight New Yorkers have now lost their lives and at least 17 have been injured, including three firefighters.” “There are no words for a loss of this magnitude,” he said, according to CBS New York, USA Today, and ABC7. Those outlets and NBC News reported that seven children were among those treated.

More than 250 firefighters and emergency medical workers arrived within a minute, USA Today and the BBC reported. Fire Department Chief John Esposito said authorities did not know how many people might still be missing and that the search could take several days, USA Today reported. Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore described the operation as “extremely dangerous” and said people from both the collapsed building and the construction site had been trapped, the BBC reported.

The cause has not been determined. The city’s Department of Buildings issued a full stop-work order at the neighboring site, where the developer had an active permit for excavation and foundation work, CBS New York and ABC7 reported. Mamdani said the Department of Buildings and law enforcement would investigate, USA Today reported. Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state would offer “full support” to the investigation, according to USA Today. The Fire Department said the 1930 building was occupied, and workers were performing excavation in the adjacent pit when the structure came down, CBS New York and NBC News reported.