Brooklyn Building Collapse Death Toll Rises to 8, at Least 17 Injured as Search Continues

Rescue crews continued to search for survivors in the rubble of a collapsed building in Brooklyn, New York, at first light on Thursday as the death toll rose to eight.

Authorities in New York City said at least 17 people were hurt when the three-storey residential building on the edge of a construction site in the borough's Flatbush section collapsed at about 4pm on Wednesday.

Four people were critically injured, officials said, and at least seven children were among the victims, although it is not clear if any of the fatalities are minors.

Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City, said in a post on X on Thursday morning that he was heartbroken by the tragedy. He wrote that eight New Yorkers had lost their lives and at least 17 had been injured, including three firefighters. There are no words for a loss of this magnitude, he wrote, saying his heart was with the families and loved ones of those lost, those injured and everyone grieving.

He urged the public to stay away from the site on Flatbush Avenue, where about 250 first responders from the New York City fire department (FDNY) worked through what Mamdani said were extremely dangerous conditions to find anybody still trapped.

The department, in an emailed statement to the New York Times on Thursday morning, said it was still hopeful of locating survivors.

Workers brought in an excavator in the early hours of Thursday to help move larger pieces of the wreckage of the building, which had housed a number of apartments. Drones and canine units were being used to assist the rescue effort.

Video taken at the scene on Wednesday night showed crews removing several people on stretchers. One person, seen covered in dust, was extricated at about 6.30pm after a crew dug a hole through some of the debris.

Another person rescued was a six-months pregnant woman whose husband had been searching for her through the late afternoon, New York ABC News affiliate WABC reported. The man told the outlet she is alive and he is very happy.

Dozens of onlookers, some in tears, gathered to watch the rescue operation. Lillian Bonsignore, the FDNY commissioner, told a Wednesday evening press conference that they know they are not finished there, and will likely not be finished for quite some time.

Adding to the urgency was a weather forecast that predicted heavy rain with a chance of thunderstorms and gusty winds moving through the borough from lunchtime and through Thursday afternoon.

Several people made homeless by the collapse took shelter in the Bethesda Church of God in Christ opposite the site.

The building that collapsed was perched at the edge of a lot where another one-storey building had been torn down for a construction project. The site was being excavated, and the building that fell down filled the construction pit with bricks and wood.

Another building that shared a wall with the collapsed structure remained standing, but its wall was shorn off, exposing the rooms inside, including a bedroom and closets filled with clothing.

Investigators from New York City's department of buildings were at the scene beginning an investigation into the cause of the collapse.

News channel NY1 reported that the department recorded multiple issues with a project next door to the collapsed building in May, including working while there was a stop work order, not having proper overhead protection for the neighbouring properties and failing to conform to approved construction drawings.

The city's department of housing, preservation and development has recorded almost 100 violations at the collapsed building dating to 1972, NY1 said. Property records show the building as a three-storey construction containing four residential units and one commercial unit.