At least two people have lost their lives and another 17 have been injured after the collapse of a three-story residential building this Wednesday in the Flatbush neighborhood, in New York’s borough of Brooklyn, according to what New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the city’s emergency services have confirmed in a press conference.
The collapse occurred shortly after 4:00 p.m. (local time) near the intersection between Bedford Avenue and Flatbush Avenue, when the structure gave way over the excavation trench of an adjacent construction site where several workers were working at that time.
Lillian Bonsignore, commissioner of the New York Fire Department (FDNY), has explained that, of the 19 people affected, 12 are in stable condition, four are in critical condition, and two have died, in addition to a firefighter who has suffered minor injuries.
Bonsignore added that among the injured there are seven minors, although the rescue teams maintain caution until they have a definitive count, since the number of victims "could change from one minute to the next".
"This will be a prolonged operation. We don’t know how many people remain in the collapse area (...). The teams are carrying out a dangerous and heroic task, carefully removing debris in a coordinated manner so as not to injure the patients or themselves", the fire official said.
FEAR OF A SECOND COLLAPSE
FDNY Chief John Esposito has emphasized that the intervention is "extremely dangerous" due to the instability of the affected area and the risk that "a secondary collapse" could occur in the adjacent building, which remains partially standing.
A device formed by around 250 firefighters, supported by canine units and personnel from the NYPD (New York Police Department), the Red Cross and the Department of Buildings (DOB), will work without interruption "for several days" on the controlled removal of the debris until reaching the foundations and ruling out the existence of more victims.
Regarding the origin of the incident, the head of the Buildings Department (DOB) has indicated that the construction company for the adjacent lot was carrying out excavation work at the time of the collapse. Although the initial project contemplated a three-story building, the developers had recently submitted documentation to build a nine-story building, an authorization that "had not yet been approved."
The residential property affected, with four apartments and built in 1930, collapsed onto the neighboring property, where the New York City Council had already issued an order to halt work in March and a fine of $10,000 (€9,000) after detecting unauthorized demolitions.
Given the magnitude of the event, the Office of Emergency Management (NYCEM) and the Red Cross have set up a reception center for the affected and evacuated residents on Flatbush Avenue, a route that will remain closed to traffic indefinitely while the debris-removal tasks and the technical investigation are carried out.