Two dead and dozens injured after three-storey building collapses in Brooklyn

At least two people were killed and 17 others were hospitalized after a three-storey building in Brooklyn, New York, collapsed on Wednesday afternoon near a construction site. Firefighters and police worked with pickaxes, saws and drones to extract victims from the twisted wood and brick debris, and search and rescue operations were expected to continue into the night.

"This has been an incredibly challenging and fast-moving situation, with precarious wreckage to navigate and dangerous voids beneath the surface," Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, adding that the type of rescue is what the FDNY trains for.

"Every move is choreographed," FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said of the rescue effort, describing the work as dangerous and perilous.

The collapse occurred while construction workers were excavating an adjacent empty lot for a new building, according to Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani, though the exact cause remains under investigation. The structure, which contained apartments above ground-level businesses, was reduced to a mound of debris at the bottom of the construction pit, while a neighboring building that shared a wall suffered extensive damage but remained standing.

Rescuers reported pulling several survivors from the rubble, including a woman rescued after a hole was cut through the debris and seven children, though officials did not confirm whether any of the children were among the deceased. One firefighter sustained minor injuries.

Anderson Velez, a resident of the collapsed building, said he learned at work that his wife had called while trapped with their two children, aged 2 and 7. He later confirmed that his family was rescued alive.