Two Dead, 17 Injured After Building Collapses in Brooklyn’s Flatbush
Two people were killed and 17 others injured on Wednesday afternoon when a three-storey building in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighbourhood collapsed into an excavation site next door, trapping residents beneath tonnes of brick and timber as firefighters worked through the night searching for anyone still buried.
The building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue, near Bedford Avenue, came down shortly after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, 11 November. The first 911 call was logged at 4:01 p.m. Built in 1930, the mixed-use building had a shop at street level and four flats above it. It fell into the open excavation at 2625 Bedford Avenue, where construction work was under way, and the force of the collapse also damaged the building next door.
A race against time in the rubble
More than 250 firefighters and paramedics rushed to the scene, backed by search dogs, drones and specialist collapse teams. A local fire company already in the neighbourhood arrived in under a minute, according to the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).
In all, the FDNY treated 19 patients: two people were pronounced dead at the scene, four were in critical condition, 12 were in a stable condition and one firefighter suffered minor injuries. Seven children were among those hurt. The identities of the two people who died had not been released on Wednesday night.
“We do not know how many people are still in the collapse zone, and this will be a prolonged operation,” FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore told reporters at the scene. Chief of Department John Esposito said the search could continue for several days.
Rescuers pulled survivors alive from the wreckage through the evening, including a woman six weeks pregnant and a mother with her two young children, aged seven and two, according to reports. Another survivor was brought out on a stretcher about two and a half hours after the collapse, the Associated Press reported. The scale of the response recalled another recent Brooklyn tragedy, when a house fire in Sunset Park killed six people.
What investigators are examining
The cause of the collapse has not yet been determined, and the city’s Department of Buildings is investigating. Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said workers had been excavating on the adjacent lot earlier in the day. One report said the neighbouring site had been cited for a Class 1 violation for allegedly working during a full stop-work order.
Investigators will examine the condition of the collapsed building, the excavation work next door and whether any violations contributed to the failure. Reuters reported the building dated to 1930.
A neighbourhood waits for answers
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani visited the scene on Wednesday evening, praised the emergency crews and expressed condolences to the victims’ families. He urged people to avoid the area so rescue work could continue.
Flatbush Avenue remained closed between Clarendon Road and Bedford Avenue. Families unable to reach a loved one were directed to the Flatbush YMCA at 1401 Flatbush Avenue, or to call 311 — or 212-639-9675 from outside New York City.
Officials stressed that the casualty figures could change as the search continued, and that it was not yet known how many people had been inside the building when it fell. The collapse came on Veterans Day, as the city marked the holiday — a sombre end to the day for a close-knit Brooklyn neighbourhood now waiting for news of anyone still missing.
