At least three people are dead and over a dozen others injured after a building collapsed in Brooklyn, according to New York City authorities.
Firefighters and police officers working at the building collapse site spent the night sifting through debris at the construction site from the collapsed three story building. The “dangerous” search and rescue operation is ongoing and there could be more victims, fire officials warned.
A three-story building at the intersection of Flatbush and Bedford Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood collapsed into an adjacent excavation site, where workers were on scene, according 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. “Multiple people from the building and a construction site were trapped.”
Four people are in critical condition, four others have serious but non life threatening injuries and nine others suffered minor injuries, officials said.
The victims include seven children, Bonsignore said, without specifying if they were among the deceased.
It is unclear how many people may still be missing in the collapse, Bonsignore said, saying it will be a “prolonged operation” and that they expect there to be more victims.
“This was a devastating collapse,” Mamdani said at the press briefing.
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.
The cause of the collapse remains under investigation by the Department of Buildings and law enforcement, authorities said.
The first 911 call on the collapse came in at 4:01 p.m., 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.
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.
The NYC Department of Buildings said its inspectors “are on scene at a major building collapse near Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn assisting with recovery operations and conducting structural stability inspections of nearby buildings.”
NYC Council Member Farah Louis, who represents Flatbush, called the images from the site “heartbreaking.”
“We are devastated to learn that at least one life has been lost, with multiple people reported trapped and several injured as emergency personnel work urgently to reach everyone in the rubble,” Louis said in a statement.
“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,” the statement continued.
Mamdani urged people to avoid the area amid the rescue response.
“As emergency operations continue, please join me in holding our neighbors and the members of this community in our hearts,” he said in a statement.
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