Eight people died and at least 17 others were injured Wednesday in Brooklyn when a three-story residential building collapsed into an adjacent excavation site in the Flatbush neighborhood, authorities said.
The structure at 1321 Flatbush Ave. crumpled into a construction pit next door at 2625 Bedford Ave. just after 4 p.m., according to the New York City Fire Department. The four-unit apartment building dates from 1930. Flatbush Avenue was closed between Clarendon Road and Bedford Avenue.
“They encountered people trapped in the adjacent building that was part of the collapse. They immediately took action and removed those people from danger,” FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said. The structure at 1321 Flatbush Ave. was reduced to rubble. The neighboring property at 1323 Flatbush Ave. had its side stripped away, leaving apartments and stairwells completely visible, the New York City Police Department said.
Firefighters early Thursday removed the bodies of three more people who died after a three-story building in Brooklyn collapsed, bringing the death toll to five, as they kept digging through the rubble to find others. https://t.co/H2i5UvHExl
More than 250 fire and emergency medical services personnel responded to the scene, deploying search dogs, pickaxes, and power saws to search through the ruins overnight. The FDNY brought in heavy machinery to lift massive slabs of masonry blocking the path of rescuers. Four of the injured victims were in critical condition, and three firefighters were among the injured. At least seven of the injured were children, officials said.
FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said at a press conference that investigators did not know how many people might still be inside the collapse zone.
“We know that we’re not finished here, and we will likely not be finished for quite some time,” Bonsignore said.
Esposito outlined the ongoing technical recovery work at the site.
“We will be here for several days until this entire site is searched for all potential victims,” Esposito said.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani addressed the tragedy in a social media statement on Thursday morning.
Rescue workers have spent the night searching the site of yesterday’s building collapse, working under extremely dangerous conditions to find and save anyone who may still be trapped.
Zohran Mamdani, Mayor
Mamdani added: “There are no words for a loss of this magnitude. My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we have lost, those who are injured and everyone grieving today.”
A limited liability company owned the adjacent excavation site to build a 56,000-square-foot mixed-use building featuring a ground-floor grocery store and eight residential stories above, city records show. Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said that construction crews had been excavating the site in the hours before the collapse.
Permission had been granted for a three-story structure at 2625 Bedford Avenue. The project’s developers are seeking approval for a nine-story building, though that request has not yet been cleared.
Inspectors issued a stop work order in March after developers demolished a previous building on the site without providing adequate shielding to neighboring properties like 1321 Flatbush Ave., Department of Buildings records indicate.
Investigators found demolition continuing in violation of that stop work order just over a month later, city records show. That violation resulted in the contractor being fined $10,000. That stop work order was lifted in May after developers came into compliance.
Offering support to those impacted, 72-year-old Joseph welcomed people into Bethesda Church of God in Christ to pray together while they waited for updates concerning their missing family members. The Office of Emergency Management coordinated with the Red Cross to open a reception center for displaced residents at the Flatbush YMCA located at 1401 Flatbush Ave.
The Department of Buildings and law enforcement agencies launched an investigation into the collapse.
Earlier coverage: Brooklyn Building Collapse Kills Two and Injures 17 in Flatbush