Brooklyn Building Collapse Death Toll Rises to at Least Eight, Including Two Children, as the Search Continues
Excavators scooped rubble Thursday in Flatbush where a three-story building collapsed at the edge of a construction site Wednesday afternoon. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at least eight people were killed and 18 injured, including four firefighters, and FDNY crews were still searching for survivors Thursday afternoon. The cause is under investigation.
The death toll from Wednesday's building collapse in Brooklyn's Flatbush neighborhood rose to at least eight people on Thursday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at a news conference, as excavators scooped up rubble and firefighters kept searching the wreckage.
Two of the people killed were children, Mamdani said. At least 18 people were injured, including four firefighters; an NPR account compiled from AP reporting put six of the dead at the scene and two more dead at a hospital, with more than 250 firefighters and emergency workers deployed. Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said crews were still searching for survivors on Thursday afternoon, and it was not clear whether anyone remained trapped.
The three-story building gave way Wednesday afternoon while construction workers were digging at a neighboring lot, a city official said. Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said Wednesday that workers were excavating the empty lot next door when the building buckled; the Department of Buildings is investigating what caused the collapse, and no cause has been announced.
Authorities said late Wednesday that at least seven children were among the injured or dead. Jose Luis Caguana, 26, who was working at the construction site, died in the collapse, his brother told WNBC-TV. This story updates the station's overnight file, which carried the toll at two dead; the desk will update again when officials release a further confirmed toll.
