Building collapse in Brooklyn kills at least eight, injures over a dozen
New York City Fire Department commissioner investigate cause of collapse while rescue crews search for victims.
A building collapse in New York City’s borough of Brooklyn has killed at least eight people, with more injured as firefighters continue to rescue potential survivors trapped under heaps of rubble.
At least 17 people have been hospitalised with injuries, including four in critical condition after the building came down on Wednesday afternoon. Three firefighters were among those being treated.
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The collapse of the three-storey mixed-use building occurred in a Flatbush area neighbourhood that is home to a predominantly Black and Afro-Caribbean community.
Rescue operations began around 4pm local time (21:00 GMT) on Wednesday and are ongoing.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani shared updates about rescue operations on X, warning New Yorkers to avoid the area.
About 250 firefighters were working the scene, the mayor said.
Writing on X, he 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.”
Pooling city efforts together
First responders arrived at the scene one minute after the first emergency call, according to Mamdani, who held a news conference at about 8pm on Wednesday (01:00 GMT Thursday).
New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Chief John Esposito said the crew was returning from a nearby emergency and immediately began search-and-rescue operations, according to CNN.
The building toppled into a nearby construction site, trapping residents and construction workers inside, said FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore.
The construction workers were “digging down”, said Esposito.
A pregnant woman was rescued from the site. Seven of the victims of the collapse were children, authorities said, without specifying whether any were among the dead.
![Emergency personnel work at the scene of a partial building collapse in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, US, on Wednesday [Angelina Katsanis/Reuters]](https://aljazeeranews.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/reuters_6af52002-1794449410.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
New York City’s Emergency Management set up a help centre for those impacted by the collapse at the local Flatbush YMCA.
Scores of firefighters and police officers wielding pickaxes and power saws clambered over the rubble pile overnight, punching holes through the ruins to pull dust-covered people from beneath piles of twisted wood and brick.
New York City Police Department officers were patrolling the site and emergency medical services personnel were working alongside rescue crews.
“The units are performing dangerous and heroic work,” Bonsignore said. “They encounter dangerous and perilous conditions. The risk of disrupting the piles by moving too quickly there … can have a detrimental consequence.”
Bonsignore added that the collapse will require a “prolonged operation”, with its cause still under investigation.
New York City Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani noted that when the building fell, construction workers were excavating an empty lot next door for a new building.
Inquiries requesting comment were sent via phone and email Wednesday to the project’s architect, property owner and general contractor, as identified in municipal records.
