Eight people have died and at least 17 others were injured after a Brooklyn building collapsed, as rescue crews raced to determine whether anyone remained trapped before an approaching storm could further hinder the operation.
At about 4 p.m. on Nov. 11, the three-story mixed-use building in the Flatbush neighborhood collapsed into an adjacent lot where construction was underway, burying people beneath the rubble.
New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani said rescue workers searched through the night for survivors while confronting “extremely dangerous conditions to find and save anyone who may still be trapped.”
Seven of the 17 injured people were believed to be children, while three were firefighters.
“There are no words for a loss of this magnitude,” Mamdani said in the statement on X. “My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we have lost, those who are injured and everyone grieving today.”
Rain Could Complicate Brooklyn Building Search Effort
Heavy rain expected on the afternoon of Nov. 12 could make the search for survivors even more challenging.
“We’re very concerned about the rain,” Fire Department Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore told WNYW. “It’s definitely going to make it more difficult.…It’ll turn to mud. It’s very heavy, so you know, we’re working very diligently now to try to find as many victims as we can.”
She described the operation as “dangerous and perilous,” according to The Associated Press, saying every movement must be carefully coordinated.
“This again [is] a very painstaking situation,” she told WNYW. “This could take, you know, a day, two days, three days depending on how we’re able to operate on the scene.”
Chief of Department John Esposito said the rescue strategy echoed methods used at the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 attacks.
“Once we get the surface victims out, right, it becomes a very complex, time-consuming search,” he told the outlet. “We’re crawling in and around the collapse, looking for void spaces, searching those void spaces, and then you literally see us using buckets…We use their Con Ed vac trucks to remove a lot of that that debris.”
Pregnant Woman Rescued From Brooklyn Building Debris
Authorities have not said how many people may still be trapped inside.
Hours after the collapse, a distraught man stood outside the scene searching for his pregnant wife.
“I’ve heard nothing,” he told WABC Nov. 11. “She’s inside the building.”
At approximately 6:30 p.m., rescuers pulled her alive from the rubble.
“She is alive, she is still alive,” he said through tears before hurrying to the hospital to join his wife. “I am very happy.”
Another man, identified as Carlos, told WNBC that his brother, Jose Luis Caguana, an immigrant from Ecuador, died while working at the construction site. Caguana leaves behind a pregnant wife.
“Her husband has passed away; he was the sole provider for the family. Now that he’s gone, she is going through an immense amount of pain,” he told the outlet in Spanish. “She is in a very bad state right now—she’s completely overwhelmed and can’t even find the words to speak.”
What Caused the Brooklyn Building Collapse?
Authorities are still investigating what caused the building to collapse.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement on X that he is “working closely with the Department of Buildings and our law enforcement partners to determine whether any criminal conduct contributed to this tragedy.”
New York City Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said construction crews were excavating the vacant lot when the neighboring building collapsed into the construction site, according to The Associated Press.
Hairstylist Brigitte Anama was working at a salon across the street when the collapse occurred.
“We heard the boom,” she told the AP, “and we all rushed outside and saw smoke and dust everywhere.”
Authorities said the search would continue until everyone involved in the collapse had been accounted for.