At least eight people died after an apartment building in Brooklyn, New York, collapsed on Wednesday.
The building, located at 1321 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood, collapsed “into an adjacent construction site,” the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) said in a statement on social media. More than a dozen people were wounded in the incident.
Here’s what we know about the situation.
What happened?
The cause of the building collapse is under investigation, according to the city’s fire department.
FDNY said that crews responded to the site of the incident around 4 p.m. on Wednesday and began a search-and-rescue operation. More than 250 first responders were at the site of the collapse.
City officials reported Wednesday evening that two people had died. That number rose to eight by Thursday morning as rescue operations continued.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement on social media Thursday morning that at least 17 other people were injured, including three firefighters. At a press conference the night before, city officials said that several of those who were wounded were children.
Mamdani said on Thursday that he was “heartbroken” that eight people had died in the incident.
The city has not released the identities of the eight people who died.
What is the status of rescue operations?
Rescue operations have continued into Thursday.
“Rescue workers have spent the night searching the site of yesterday’s building collapse, working under extremely dangerous conditions to find and save anyone who may still be trapped,” Mamdani said in his statement. “There are no words for a loss of this magnitude. My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we have lost, those who are injured and everyone grieving today.”
FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said in a statement that operations for a building collapse such as this one “are extremely dangerous.”
“Multiple people from the building and the construction site were trapped,” Bonsignore said. “This will be a prolonged operation.”
At a press conference on Wednesday evening, Bonsignore said that the department didn’t know at that time how many people were in the building when it collapsed or “how many people are still in the collapse zone.”
What is the city doing to help New Yorkers affected by the building collapse?
Mamdani said on Thursday that anyone who has not been able to get into contact with someone who they think could have been affected by the incident should call 311—or 212-639-9675, if they are located outside of the city.
The city has also opened a center to help people who were affected or displaced by the collapse; the center is located at the Flatbush YMCA at 1401 Flatbush Avenue.
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