Eight people have died and 18 were injured after a three-story building in Flatbush, Brooklyn, collapsed into an adjacent construction site Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Thursday as rescue operations continued.
“There are no words for a loss of this magnitude,” Mamdani said in a statement. “My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we have lost, those who are injured and everyone grieving today.”
Those who died include six adults and two children, the mayor said at a press briefing Thursday afternoon. Two of the dead were workers at the construction site, and one person remains hospitalized in critical condition, he added.
City officials urged people to avoid the area where the building collapsed, at Flatbush and Bedford avenues. They said New Yorkers unable to reach someone they believe may have been affected by the catastrophe should call 311, while those outside of the city should call 212-639-9675.
Authorities were working to determine the cause of the collapse of the building at 1321 Flatbush Ave. into the open-pit construction site at 2625 Bedford Ave. around 4 p.m. Wednesday. A third building, at 1323 Flatbush Ave., was damaged in the incident, with footage from the scene showing the side of that building ripped off and rubble from the collapsed building below.
“We have immediately launched a full investigation into how exactly this happened with our law enforcement partners, and we will be looking into all aspects of the building and the neighboring construction site,” Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said in a video statement late Wednesday.
Officials said Thursday they have issued vacate orders on three buildings on Flatbush Avenue and are sweeping other locations where the companies on the construction site were working when the building toppled. Regulators and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office are probing the incident.
The city has not yet released the names of the victims.
At a church across from the disaster site Thursday morning, an anguished woman sobbed as she learned her husband, a construction worker, had died in the collapse. While exiting the church, she fell onto the sidewalk and others helped her get up.
“Mi esposo!” she cried.
Jose Gutierrez, a construction worker who came to the church to support the woman and the family, said he knew her husband from working at the same company. Gutierrez said the man’s body was extracted from the construction site around 6 a.m.
“We stayed here all night,” he said. “I came here to see my friend. I wish the situation was good.”
Officials said they were conducting structural stability inspections of nearby buildings. Multiple people were trapped when first responders arrived Wednesday at the scene, which drew more than 250 fire and emergency medical personnel.
Emergency management officials and the Red Cross have opened a reception center for displaced residents at the Flatbush YMCA at 1401 Flatbush Ave., authorities said.
Authorities said they shut down water mains around the site to facilitate the search and rescue operations, with about 100 buildings affected.
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