Brooklyn Apartment Building Collapse Kills at Least One, Injures 10; Rescuers Pull Survivors From Rubble

At least one person killed and at least 10 injured, including construction workers, as survivors were pulled alive from the rubble.
Flashlight beams bounced off reflective tape as another person came out alive
Rescuers kept working into the night after the Brooklyn collapse, pulling a second survivor from the rubble.
Mark

A whole building just came down in the late afternoon. What do we actually know?

Mimi

Three stories, four units, built in 1930. The Fire Department got the call just after 4 p.m. and says at least one person died and at least 10 were hurt.

Mark

And people were found alive hours later?

Mimi

Yes. One person came out about two and a half hours in, on a stretcher into an ambulance. Later another was seen being pulled out alive.

Mark

There was a man at the scene, wasn't there?

Mimi

He told WABC he was very happy, and he believed the rescued person was his pregnant wife, six months along.

Luke

Careful there. That's his belief, relayed on camera. Nothing in the reporting confirms who she was or how she's doing.

Mark

What about the construction site next door?

Mimi

Debris fell into a pit there, and local media say construction workers were among the injured.

Luke

But being adjacent isn't being the cause. Nobody has said what brought the building down, and I'd resist drawing a line between the two.

Mark

Are the casualty numbers final?

Luke

No. At least one dead and at least 10 hurt are floors, and the four critical, six minor split came before the rescues.

Mimi

So the next things to watch are the cause, the final count, and any scrutiny of the site.

  • A four-unit building in Brooklyn fell completely just after 4 p.m., trapping residents and sending dust and debris across the street.
  • Construction workers were among the injured, and much of the rubble tumbled into a pit at the neighboring site.
  • Dozens of firefighters clawed through the pile by hand, bucket by bucket, with a search dog sniffing for anyone still buried.
  • Two survivors were lifted alive from the wreckage, one carried away on a stretcher while a man at the scene cried out in relief.
  • Officials have not yet named a cause, a final death toll, or whether the adjacent construction site will face scrutiny.

On a Wednesday afternoon in Brooklyn, a three-story apartment house built nearly a century ago folded in on itself just after four o'clock, leaving at least one person dead and at least ten injured. The cause is not yet known, and the wreckage lies beside an active construction pit, which may or may not be part of the story. Dozens of firefighters and a search dog worked through the debris, and two people were eventually pulled out alive, reminding us how quickly ordinary houses can become sites of grief and, sometimes, of unexpected survival.

Just after four o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, the New York City Fire Department received word that a three-story apartment building in Brooklyn had collapsed entirely. The building held four units and dated to 1930. Early counts put the dead at one or more, with at least ten injured, among them construction workers from the site next door.

Firefighters swarmed the pile, moving debris out in buckets while a search dog worked the rubble. Television footage showed the remains of the rooms: a stove, a toilet, a door, all lying among broken walls. Much of the debris had slid into a pit at the adjacent construction site.

The first survivor was pulled out about two and a half hours after the collapse. A man at the scene told a reporter he believed she was his wife, who is six months pregnant, and said, "I'm very happy." As darkness fell, rescuers found a second person alive. Neither survivor's condition has been confirmed.

Much remains unknown. No cause has been given, nor how the collapse relates to the construction pit, and the dead have not been identified. The early figures are minimums. What comes next will be the official cause, the final count, and whether the neighboring site draws scrutiny.

Just after 4 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, the New York City Fire Department received a call reporting that a building in Brooklyn had collapsed completely. The building was a three-story apartment house with four units, built in 1930. By the department's account, the collapse killed at least one person and injured at least 10 others.

Dozens of firefighters worked the pile, joined by a search dog. Footage showed them moving debris out by the bucketful. Drone video from the local television station WABC showed what was left of the interiors: a stove, a toilet and a door, all lying in the wreckage. Much of the debris had fallen into a pit at an adjacent construction site. Local media reports said construction workers were among those hurt.

The Fire Department's early tally, issued before any rescues, was that four people were critically injured and six others had minor injuries. It was after that count that two people were pulled out alive.

The first came about two and a half hours after the collapse. WABC footage showed the person lifted from the rubble, placed on a stretcher and taken away in an ambulance. A man at the scene told a WABC reporter that he believed the person was his wife, who is six months pregnant. "I'm very happy, I'm very happy," he said. The source does not confirm her identity or her condition.

Later, as darkness set in, the search continued. Flashlight beams caught the reflective strips on the rescuers' dark coats, and a second person was seen being brought out alive. No details on that person's condition appear in the reporting.

Much remains unanswered. The reports do not say what caused the building to fall, nor do they say how the collapse relates to the neighboring construction pit. They also do not identify the person who died or give a final casualty count. The initial figures are described as minimums, and they were issued before the two rescues.

What to watch next: the official cause of the collapse, the final number of dead and injured, and whether the adjacent construction site comes under scrutiny.

I'm very happy, I'm very happy.
— Man who believed the rescued person was his pregnant wife, to WABC
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