At least two people are dead and others remain trapped under debris after a three-story building collapsed in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, on Wednesday afternoon.
The collapse happened at about 4 pm local time at 1325 Flatbush Avenue, after a call came in at 4:01 pm. The building stood at the edge of a construction site where a neighboring building had been torn down and the ground was being excavated. The collapsed structure fell into the pit, filling it with bricks and wood. A building that shared a wall with it stayed standing, but the wall was ripped away, leaving rooms exposed.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at least two people had died and called the collapse devastating, adding that he was heartbroken. Ten people were taken to hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical, and the number of people still trapped was not given. Mamdani asked residents to pray for the victims and their families and said the city would support those affected.
More than 250 emergency personnel took part in the search and rescue effort, and Mamdani said the response began within a minute of the call. Crews searched by hand, used rescue dogs and a drone, and kept working by torchlight after dark. Unstable wreckage and dangerous voids made the work slow. A pregnant woman was pulled alive from the rubble, and her husband said she was alive.
Mamdani described the situation as challenging and fast-moving, with precarious wreckage. The cause of the collapse has not been determined, and the investigation is continuing.
