At least two people have died and 17 others were hospitalised four in critical condition after a three-storey building collapsed into an adjacent construction pit in Brooklyn the New York on Wednesday afternoon.
The mixed-use building on Flatbush Avenue, constructed in 1930 with apartments above ground-floor shops, gave way around 4:00pm local time. The collapse also sheared off the wall of a neighbouring structure, leaving bedrooms and closets exposed. Witnesses described a loud "boom" followed by screaming as debris crashed into the neighbouring excavation site.
More than 250 firefighters and police officers deployed search dogs, drones, pickaxes and chainsaws to comb through twisted metal and concrete. Hours into the operation, rescuers pulled a six-month pregnant woman alive from the rubble on a stretcher. Authorities confirmed seven children were among the casualties though they did not specify if any were among the fatalities. One firefighter sustained minor injuries.
New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore described the ongoing search which is expected to last several days as "dangerous and perilous" noting victims were trapped in both the collapsed building and the construction site.
Visiting the scene, Mayor Zohran Mamdani praised first responders for arriving in under a minute to navigate "precarious wreckage and dangerous voids."
While the exact cause remains under investigation the NYC Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani noted that workers were actively excavating the empty lot next door when the collapse occurred. Officials are still working to determine how many people remain unaccounted for.
