Eight killed in Brooklyn building collapse, mayor says

A three-story apartment building in Flatbush, Brooklyn, collapsed into a neighboring construction site on Wednesday afternoon, killing eight residents and injuring 18, including four firefighters, city officials said.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who visited survivors in hospital, said the victims included six adults and two children and that two of the deceased were construction workers on the adjacent site. He pledged a "comprehensive and thorough" investigation and said city officials have identified the companies operating the construction site and are reviewing 100 other sites run by the same groups.

The New York City Fire Department arrived within a minute of the emergency call and deployed drones, sniffer dogs, cranes and other equipment to search the wreckage. Search conditions were expected to worsen with rain, but responders said they would continue until they were certain no one remained trapped.

Residents described the shock of hearing a loud boom and seeing the building’s wall tear away. > "Right now, I'm really scared," said Ann Marie, a neighbour who witnessed the collapse. > "How does a building just fall into a pit? We all live here with the assumption that stairs are stable, floors are stable," said longtime resident Patricia Starek.

Community members gathered to support each other, with some praying at a local church and others assisting rescue crews. A husband expressed relief after his six-month-pregnant wife was rescued alive. The incident has unsettled the typically quiet, immigrant-rich neighbourhood.