Deadly Brooklyn building collapse kills two, injures dozens

NEW YORK: At least two people were killed and more than 10 others injured after a three-storey residential building collapsed in New York City’s Brooklyn borough, prompting an extensive rescue operation to search for people trapped beneath the rubble.

The four-unit apartment building, located in the Flatbush neighbourhood, collapsed at around 4pm on Wednesday and fell into an adjoining construction site where excavation work was underway.

New York City Fire Department Chief John Esposito said the cause of the collapse remained under investigation. Authorities were also examining whether construction activities at the nearby site had contributed to the incident.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed the deaths and said more than 10 people had been taken to nearby hospitals. The injured included patients with both critical and less serious conditions.

Fire Department Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said authorities had identified 19 people affected by the incident, including seven children. A firefighter also sustained minor injuries during the emergency response.

The number of residents and construction workers present when the building collapsed was not immediately known. Officials also could not establish how many people might still be missing.

Rescue teams, supported by search dogs, continued combing through the debris in an effort to locate survivors. Emergency workers were carefully removing rubble and searching for spaces where trapped people might have survived.

Local media reported that at least four survivors, including a pregnant woman, were pulled from the wreckage within two to two-and-a-half hours of the collapse.

According to fire officials, a firefighting crew already operating in the neighbourhood reached the site within a minute of the incident and helped rescue the first victims.

Esposito warned that searching the entire site could take several days, as emergency personnel continued efforts to account for everyone who might have been inside the building or at the adjoining construction site.

Authorities said the rescue operation would continue until all potentially affected areas had been thoroughly searched.