At least two people have died and more than 17 others were injured after a three-storey building in Brooklyn, New York, collapsed into an open construction site on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, officials said.
The collapse happened at about 4 p.m. local time on Flatbush Avenue. An entire side of the building was left gone, exposing bedrooms and closets, while smashed concrete, twisted metal and household items were scattered among the debris.
More than 250 first responders were sent to the scene for a search-and-rescue operation, working to find people who may have been trapped under the rubble. Hours after the collapse, firefighters pulled a survivor, covered in dust, from the debris on a stretcher.
New York City Fire Department Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore described the rescue mission as “extremely dangerous”, saying people from both the collapsed building and the construction site had been trapped.
The cause of the sudden collapse has not yet been determined, officials said.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani visited the scene and praised the emergency crews, saying they “arrived in under a minute and have spent hours working in dangerous and highly technical conditions to rescue New Yorkers”.
City records show the building was built in 1930, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.
Source: BBC News
