BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Eight people are dead and 17 others are hurt after a three-story apartment building in Flatbush collapsed into a construction site next door Wednesday afternoon. Crews searched the rubble through the night. Two people died at the hospital, bringing the death toll to eight.
Firefighters pulled bodies from the debris overnight and into Thursday morning. The third body was recovered around 4:45 a.m., the fourth just before 6 a.m., the fifth just after 6 a.m., and the sixth after 6:30 a.m. K-9 teams alerted rescuers to two areas of debris, where the bodies were then found.
The FDNY was called to 1321 Flatbush Ave. at 4:01 p.m. Wednesday. The building collapsed into an open construction site at 2625 Bedford Ave., and workers were actively excavating the site when it happened. The side of the building next door, 1323 Flatbush Ave., was torn off. City records show the collapsed building was a three-story mixed-use building with four apartments.
Four of the injured are in critical condition, FDNY officials said, and one firefighter is among those with minor injuries. Seven children are among the victims, Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said, though officials have not said how they are doing. Rescuers pulled several children and a pregnant woman from the rubble.
Bonsignore said investigators do not know how many people may still be in the collapse zone or how many are missing. “We know that we are not finished here, and we will likely not be finished for quite some time,” she said. FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito warned that the main concern now is a second collapse.
A full stop-work order has been issued at the construction site while investigators work to figure out what caused the collapse. The city’s Department of Buildings says that in May it recorded several problems with the project next door, including working under a stop-work order, not having proper overhead protection for neighboring buildings, and not following the approved construction drawings.
The Red Cross and NYC Emergency Management opened a reception center at the Flatbush YMCA, 1401 Flatbush Ave. The Red Cross has registered 11 adults and two children from six households for emergency help, including temporary housing. Flatbush Avenue is closed between Clarendon Road and Bedford Avenue.
Officials have not released the names or ages of the people who died.
This is a developing story.
