Here’s what to know about the collapse.
A three-story apartment building collapsed in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn on Wednesday, killing at least two people and injuring 17 others, officials said.
Emergency workers were looking for other victims in the wreckage on Thursday morning. The New York City fire commissioner said that firefighters did not know how many people had been in the building.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said that the Department of Buildings and law enforcement would lead an investigation into the cause of the collapse.
The site is adjacent to a large construction site on Bedford Ave where the city had approved plans for a three-story building. The city’s buildings commissioner said that construction workers were excavating that site at the time of the collapse.
What happened?
At 4:01 p.m. Wednesday, there was a 911 call about a building collapse at 1321 Flatbush Avenue, Mr. Mamdani said at a news conference. The falling structure took out the wall of an adjacent three-story building, exposing the interiors of some people’s apartments.
Lillian Bonsignore, the city’s fire commissioner, said that two people were killed in the collapse and 17 others were injured, including seven children. Four of the injured were in critical condition, she said, and firefighters did not know how many people had been in the building.
Why did the building collapse?
It’s not clear yet. The Department of Buildings said that its engineers were conducting structural stability inspections of nearby buildings.
The building that collapsed was built in 1930 and had four apartments, according to city records. It is in the Little Haiti section of Flatbush, on an avenue lined with shops.
The Department of Buildings said the developers of a construction site adjacent to the collapsed building had an active permit for excavation and foundation work on the lot. The department’s commissioner, Ahmed Tigani, told reporters that workers were excavating that site at the time of the collapse.
A full stop-work order has now been issued for the site, the department said.
What do we know about the victims and the rescue effort?
The authorities have not released the names of the people who were killed or injured. The rescue effort included canine units, drones and helicopters and teams of firefighters who spent hours digging through the wreckage armed with axes and pickaxes.
What happens now?
The authorities are encouraging people who are unable to reach someone they believe to be affected by the collapse to call 311. People outside the city can call 212-639-9675.
NYC Emergency Management and the American Red Cross have opened a reception center for affected and displaced residents at the Flatbush YMCA, at 1401 Flatbush Avenue.
Sharon Otterman, Ishani Desai, Sarah Chatta and Ana Ley contributed reporting.
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