At least two people have died and more than 17 others are injured after a building in New York City collapsed into an open construction site in Brooklyn, officials have said. The incident occurred at about 16:00 local time (21:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
The building, located on Flatbush Avenue, was built in 1930 according to city records cited by CBS News. Pictures of the site show an entire side of the building gone, with bedrooms and closets exposed. Among the debris, which includes smashed concrete and twisted metal, are household items and clothes.
New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore described the rescue mission as "extremely dangerous," noting that people from both the collapsed building and the construction site had been trapped. She stated that members have been working methodically and "haven't stopped since they arrived this afternoon."
Aerial video showed firefighters pulling a survivor, covered in dust, out of the debris on a stretcher hours after the collapse. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined emergency responders at the scene and praised them on X, stating they "arrived in under a minute and have spent hours working in dangerous and highly technical conditions to rescue New Yorkers."
Authorities are yet to determine what caused the sudden collapse. Rescue operations are still underway.
TYPE: news
PHOTO: event
PHOTO_SEARCH: collapsed building rubble
PLACE: Brooklyn, New York, US
