2 Killed, Over 10 Injured In New York Building Collapse

At least two people have been killed and more than 10 others injured after a three-storey apartment building collapsed in Brooklyn, New York, with emergency workers continuing rescue operations to locate possible survivors.

The incident occurred at about 4pm on Wednesday, November 11, in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, when the four-unit residential building collapsed into an adjoining construction site where excavation work was ongoing.

New York City Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, confirmed the fatalities, saying more than 10 victims had been taken to local hospitals with injuries ranging from critical to non-life-threatening.

According to city officials, 19 victims had been identified, including seven children, although the total number of people who might have been trapped beneath the rubble remained unknown.

New York City Fire Department Commissioner, Lillian Bonsignore, disclosed that a firefighter also sustained minor injuries during the rescue operation.

Fire Department Chief, John Esposito, said the building, which was constructed in 1930, collapsed into the neighbouring construction site.

He added that the cause of the incident was still under investigation, noting that authorities had yet to establish how many residents or construction workers were present when the building came down.

Officials said a firefighting crew already in the neighbourhood arrived within a minute of the collapse and immediately joined efforts to rescue victims trapped beneath the debris.

Television footage showed rescue workers using search dogs to comb through the rubble while removing debris in buckets in search of survivors.

US television station, WABC-TV, reported that at least four people were rescued from the wreckage between two and two-and-a-half hours after the collapse, including a pregnant woman.

Esposito warned that the rescue operation could take several days, explaining that emergency teams needed to thoroughly search the entire site for possible victims.

He said authorities were yet to determine the overall number of missing persons as rescue efforts continued.

The Fire Department had earlier reported that four people sustained critical injuries, while six others suffered minor injuries before additional survivors were pulled from the wreckage.

Authorities said the full number of casualties and people affected by the collapse remained unknown as search and rescue operations continued.