Eight people died and 17 were hurt in a Brooklyn building collapse. Rescuers are still searching the rubble.
NEW YORK — The death toll from a building collapse in Brooklyn rose to at least eight on Thursday as hundreds of firefighters kept digging through the rubble for anyone still trapped, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, with a storm approaching and crews racing to finish the search.
A three-story building at 1321 Flatbush Ave., with a store at street level and apartments above, collapsed around 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Flatbush neighborhood. Much of the debris fell into an open construction pit next door at 2625 Bedford Ave. A neighboring building that shared a wall with it stayed standing, but the wall was torn away, exposing rooms inside.
At least 17 people were hospitalized, four of them in critical condition, according to the Fire Department. FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said Wednesday night that seven children were among the injured, a figure given when officials counted at least 23 hurt. Rescuers have used dogs, drones, buckets and vacuum trucks in the search. The department said it does not know how many people were in the building and that the toll could still rise.
The cause is under investigation. Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said construction workers had been excavating the adjacent lot earlier on Wednesday, and a developer has submitted plans for a nine-story building there that the department has not yet approved. The Department of Buildings and law enforcement are leading the investigation.
The city’s Office of Emergency Management has opened a reception center with the Red Cross for affected residents at the Flatbush YMCA, 1401 Flatbush Ave.
This report draws on Associated Press coverage as published by KY3, with details from CNN, ABC7 New York, NBC New York, Gothamist and FOX 5 NY.