Two people died and 17 were hospitalized after a three-story building collapsed beside a construction site in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Four of those taken to hospitals were in critical condition, officials said.
About 250 firefighters and police officers worked through the debris, using saws and hand tools to reach people beneath broken wood and brick. The New York City Fire Department said search and rescue efforts would continue into the night. Officials had not confirmed whether anyone remained trapped.
The collapse reduced the building, which had apartments above ground-level businesses, to debris in the adjoining construction pit. A neighboring structure remained standing but was badly damaged, with part of its exterior wall torn away. The Associated Press reported the same death toll and hospitalization figures.
Cause of collapse remains under investigation
New York City Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said construction workers were excavating an empty lot next door for a planned building when the collapse occurred. Authorities have not established whether the excavation caused the building to fall.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani described the rescue as difficult, citing unstable wreckage and dangerous voids beneath the debris. Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said crews were working by hand and using drones, calling the operation “dangerous and perilous.” One firefighter sustained minor injuries, fire officials said.
Rescuers pulled multiple people from the rubble as the operation continued. The ABC7 New York account of the officials’ briefing also reported that seven children were treated; officials did not specify their conditions or whether any were among those who died.
Clayton Ward