At least eight people were killed and 17 others injured when a three-story building collapsed into an adjacent construction site in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighbourhood, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Thursday. The updated death toll followed an overnight search through unstable wreckage, according to The Washington Post.
The building, which housed a street-level store and apartments above, collapsed just after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, November 11, at the intersection of Flatbush and Bedford avenues. It fell into an excavation site next door, ABC7 New York reported.
More than 250 emergency responders attended the scene. Crews continued searching for potential victims as officials warned that they did not know how many people had been inside or how many might remain beneath the debris.
Death toll rises after overnight search
Authorities initially reported two deaths on Wednesday evening. By Thursday morning, Mamdani said eight people had died and at least 17 were injured, including three firefighters.
FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said seven children were among the casualties, but officials had not provided their ages or specified whether any were among those killed. Earlier reports said four injured people were in critical condition.
Unstable debris complicates search efforts
Firefighters and other emergency workers used drones, buckets and vacuum trucks to search the rubble and remove debris. The operation required crews to navigate voids beneath the wreckage while guarding against further structural failures.
Fire Chief John Esposito described the site as unstable and said teams would remain for several days until the entire area had been searched for potential victims. Mamdani also described dangerous conditions beneath the surface of the debris.
The collapse damaged a neighbouring building, tearing away part of an exterior wall and leaving apartments exposed. That structure remained standing, according to ABC7’s subsequent coverage.
Investigators examine neighbouring excavation
The cause of the collapse remains under investigation. Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said construction workers had been carrying out excavation work at the neighbouring site on Wednesday. Officials have not established whether that work caused the building to fail.
ABC7 reported that the adjacent development had an active permit for excavation and foundation work. A full stop-work order was issued after the collapse as investigators examined what happened.
The station’s review of city records found that a summons had been issued in April at the neighbouring construction site over an alleged stop-work-order violation, which was later resolved. ABC7 said it found no building violations for the property that collapsed. Those records do not, by themselves, establish the cause of the disaster.
Displaced residents receive emergency assistance
At least eight households were displaced, including residents of both the collapsed building and the damaged neighbouring property, city officials told ABC7. A reception centre opened at the Flatbush YMCA, where the American Red Cross registered residents and the city offered assistance, including mental health services.
Authorities urged the public to avoid the area while emergency operations continued. Street closures and traffic disruption affected the intersection of Flatbush and Bedford avenues and surrounding roads.
