The death toll from Wednesday’s partial building collapse in Brooklyn has risen to five after crews recovered three more bodies from the rubble, city officials said. An unknown number of people remain trapped inside.
The three-story building in the Flatbush neighborhood came down Wednesday afternoon. The FDNY initially reported two deaths at the scene before the additional recoveries brought the toll to five.
Nineteen people were injured in the collapse, four of them taken to hospitals in critical condition, according to the FDNY. More than 12 hours after the building fell, over 250 fire and EMS personnel remained on scene conducting the rescue operation.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the FDNY received a 911 call reporting the collapse at 1321 Flatbush Avenue at 4:01 p.m. Firefighters arrived within one minute and began searching the rubble immediately.
Rescue crews have deployed drones to survey the wreckage from above and vacuum trucks to remove debris carefully as they search for anyone still buried.
The building, which housed a street-level store and apartments above, collapsed into an open construction site next door at 2625 Bedford Avenue. The developers of that site held active permits for excavation and foundation work tied to a planned new building.
The city’s Department of Buildings has inspectors and engineers on scene and has opened an investigation into how the collapse happened. No cause has been determined.
A History of Violations Next Door
Records show the Department of Buildings issued a stop-work order in March after inspectors found the developers at 2625 Bedford Avenue had demolished the existing structure on the site without providing adequate shielding for neighboring properties, including 1321 Flatbush Avenue, the building that later collapsed.
A little over a month later, investigators discovered the demolition had continued despite the stop-work order, triggering another citation. The order was not lifted until May, after the developers came into compliance, according to the Department of Buildings.
FDNY has urged the public to avoid Bedford and Flatbush avenues in Brooklyn while the search and investigation continue.
