More than 250 responders search rubble as the cause remains unknown
At least two people have died and more than 17 others were injured after a three-story building collapsed into an open construction site on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City officials said. The building came down suddenly at about 16:00 local time (21:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
The collapse set off a large search-and-rescue operation, with more than 250 first responders at the scene trying to find survivors who may have been trapped under the rubble of the three-story building. New York City Fire Department Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said people from the collapsed building and also the construction site had been trapped.
Hours later, aerial video showed firefighters pulling a survivor, covered in dust, out of the debris on a stretcher.
Bonsignore described the rescue mission as “extremely dangerous.” “Members have been working methodically and haven’t stopped since they arrived this afternoon,” she said.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined emergency responders at the scene and praised their rapid response. In a later post on X, Mamdani wrote that the responders “arrived in under a minute and have spent hours working in dangerous and highly technical conditions to rescue New Yorkers.”
Photographs of the collapsed building showed an entire side of it gone, with bedrooms and closets exposed. Among the debris — smashed concrete and twisted metal — lay household items and clothes.
City records show the Brooklyn building was built in 1930, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
Authorities had yet to determine what caused the sudden collapse.