8 dead, including 2 children, after building collapses in Brooklyn, New York
Rescue operations have concluded, the FDNY said.
Eight people are dead, including two children, and over a dozen others injured after a three-story building collapsed into an open construction site in Brooklyn, according to New York City authorities.
Firefighters and police officers spent nearly 24 hours sifting through debris at the construction site in a "dangerous" search-and-rescue operation, fire officials said. Rescue operations concluded Thursday afternoon, after authorities determined there were no more victims, the FDNY said.
A three-story multiple dwelling at the intersection of Flatbush and Bedford Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood collapsed Wednesday afternoon into an adjacent excavation site, where workers were on scene, according to fire officials. The wall of another three-story building that now stands next to the site was also shorn off, exposing apartments.
"This was a major technical response," FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said at a press briefing Wednesday. "Multiple people from the building and a construction site were trapped."
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Thursday that six adults, including two construction workers, and two children were "senselessly lost" in the building collapse and 18 others have been injured, including four firefighters. One of the injured people is in critical condition, while the "vast majority" of those still being treated at hospitals are stable, he said.
"There are no words for a loss of this magnitude. My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we have lost, those who are injured and everyone grieving today," Mamdani said in a statement Thursday.
After searching overnight, crews worked to remove debris from the site to help with the search effort and make sure there were no more people trapped, Bonsignore said earlier Thursday.
In an update Thursday afternoon, the FDNY said it has "concluded rescue operations throughout the entire site and determined there are no more victims."
"The site has been turned over to the Department of Buildings and the NYPD," it said.
Six people were pronounced dead at the scene, including four recovered overnight, and two died at the hospital overnight, authorities said Thursday.
The victims include seven children, Bonsignore said. According to law enforcement sources, a 9-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy died.
"This was a devastating collapse," Mamdani said at Wednesday's press briefing.
Stop work order issued at construction site
Earlier, the FDNY said several construction workers were being transported to the hospital for treatment, and firefighters were trying to get a count of all the workers on the job site.
Excavation work had been underway at the construction site, which has been approved for a three-story building, officials said. Plans for a nine-story, mixed-use building there had yet to be approved, officials said.
A stop work order has been issued for the neighboring construction site as search and rescue continues, according to the Department of Buildings (DOB).
The cause of the collapse remains under investigation by the DOB and law enforcement, authorities said.
"We will find out what happened, and we will share that information with New Yorkers," Mamdani said Thursday.
The DOB said its inspectors were at the scene on Thursday assisting first responders with recovery efforts and conducting structural stability inspections of nearby buildings.
In March, the DOB said it issued a stop-work order for the construction site, at 2625 Bedford Ave., after inspectors found demolition was underway without adequate overhead protection installed for the neighboring properties.
During a follow-up in April, the DOB said it found that demolition work had resumed in violation of the active stop-work order, resulting in another violation.
The order was lifted in May after the project team corrected all the violations, according to the DOB.
Mamdani said Thursday that five entities are involved with the construction site and are associated with approximately 100 other sites across New York City.
"Our Department of Buildings is commencing sweeps of those sites today," he said.
Vacate orders are in place for three buildings closest to the incident, located at 1323, 1325 and 1327 Flatbush Ave., Mamdani said.
'Dangerous and heroic' response
The first 911 call on the collapse of the building, located at 1321 Flatbush Ave., came in at 4:01 p.m. Wednesday, according to the FDNY.
Firefighters could be seen among the debris in the construction pit. After several hours, search-and-rescue canines could also be seen at work.
Mamdani called the rescue operation "incredibly challenging" as crews navigated "precarious wreckage."
"The units are performing dangerous and heroic work," Bonsignore said.
The mayor commended those who ran to help, including 250 firefighters and EMS personnel, as well as construction workers who "had only barely survived themselves, turned back and dug victims out of the rubble."
Amid the massive response, at least two people could be seen being rescued from the rubble, pulled out on stretchers. In one dramatic scene, a woman was rescued more than two hours into the rescue operation, as night fell on the site.
A man who had been frantically looking for his pregnant wife told reporters, "I have an update from my wife, she is alive," before boarding an ambulance with a victim.
NYC Council Member Farah Louis, who represents Flatbush, called the images from the site "heartbreaking."
"My immediate priority is the safety of everyone impacted, and my team is actively working to reach affected families to connect them with critical information and support during this frightening time," Louis said in a statement.
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