NEW YORK — At least eight people have died and 17 others were injured after a three-storey building collapsed into a construction site in Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed the death toll on Thursday as firefighters continued to dig through the rubble in a search for any remaining victims. Six people were found dead at the scene and two died at a hospital, according to the FDNY. Among the 17 injured are four people in critical condition and three firefighters.
"There are no words for a loss of this magnitude," Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted on X. "My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we have lost, those who are injured and everyone grieving today." The mayor praised rescue workers who spent the night searching the site, working under extremely dangerous conditions. The building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue in the Flatbush neighbourhood collapsed just after 4 p.m. Wednesday, tearing off the side of an adjacent building that shared a wall.
Witnesses described a sudden boom and clouds of dust. "We heard the boom and we all rushed outside and saw smoke and dust everywhere," said Brigitte Anama, a hair stylist at a salon across the street. She saw emergency workers pulling people from the site, including what appeared to be a child. "People were saying, 'Pray for the baby, pray for the baby,'" she said. James Williams, who works at a deli across the street, said he heard loud banging and saw bricks falling minutes before the collapse.
Hundreds of firefighters and police officers worked through the night under floodlights, using pickaxes, power saws, drones and rescue dogs to comb through massive piles of rubble. They pulled at least one survivor from the wreckage overnight. Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said the teams were performing dangerous and heroic work. "We expect there could be more people found as this operation progresses," Bonsignore said. She cautioned that forecast heavy rain on Thursday afternoon could hinder operations by turning the site to mud, but vowed firefighters would work through it if necessary.
The building that collapsed was a mixed-use structure built in 1930, with apartments above businesses. It was perched at the edge of a lot where a one-storey building had been torn down for a new construction project. New York City's buildings commissioner, Ahmed Tigani, said construction workers were on site doing excavation work adjacent to the building at the time of the collapse. The cause remains under investigation. The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office is investigating whether any criminal conduct contributed to the collapse.
City records show the construction site had been cited for violations months before the disaster. A stop work order was issued in March after inspectors concluded the building next door was being demolished without adequate overhead protection. Work resumed in violation of that order in April, but was allowed to continue in May after the problems were corrected. The project has active permits for excavation and foundation work. A full stop-work order has been issued as recovery operations continue.
One of the victims was identified by his family as Jose Luis Caguana, 26, an immigrant from Ecuador who was working at the construction site. His brother, Carlos Caguana, told WNBC-TV that Jose Luis had a pregnant wife and a young child. The surrounding neighbourhood is a tightly packed area of mostly older brick buildings. Novella Spence, who lives across the street, said her children's screams woke her as the building fell. "It came down like boom, boom!" she said.