Brooklyn Building Collapse Kills 2 and Injures 17, Including 7 Children, as Rescuers Search the Rubble

NEW YORK, Nov. 12 (TodayViralUSA) — Two people were killed and at least 17 others injured, four of them critically, when a three-story building in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood collapsed into an excavation pit next door on Wednesday afternoon, setting off a search through unstable rubble that officials warned could last for days.

Seven children were among the injured, along with a firefighter who suffered minor injuries, the Fire Department of New York said. The department has not released the names or ages of the two people who died.

A building ‘in poor condition’

The 96-year-old building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue, near the corner of Bedford Avenue, had a store at street level and apartments above. It gave way just after 4 p.m. and fell into a construction site on the adjacent lot, where crews had been excavating earlier in the day, according to city Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani.

Tigani said the developer next door had approved plans for a three-story building and had applied, without yet receiving approval, to build nine stories. City records show excavation at the site, including rock blasting, began in September, NBC New York reported.

A pre-construction inspection report filed with the developer’s application, obtained by NBC New York’s I-Team, described the north wall of the collapsed building, facing the construction site, as being in “poor” condition with “a wide range of major deficiencies,” including cracks and misaligned masonry. ABC7 New York found one summons issued at the construction site in April and no violations for the building that fell.

‘A prolonged operation’

More than 250 firefighters and paramedics responded. Rescuers dug by hand and used drones, search dogs, buckets and vacuum trucks to comb the debris, while a neighboring building at 1323 Flatbush Avenue was left with part of its wall torn away, exposing apartments.

“We do not know how many people are still in the collapse zone, and this will be a prolonged operation,” FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore told reporters late Wednesday.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city’s Department of Buildings and law enforcement would investigate the cause. “This has been an incredibly challenging and fast-moving situation, with precarious wreckage to navigate and dangerous voids beneath the surface,” he said.

Families displaced

At least eight households were displaced, officials said. The city opened a reception center at the Flatbush YMCA offering shelter registration through the American Red Cross and mental health services, and building inspectors were checking nearby structures. Surrounding streets remained closed.