At least eight people have died after a three-storey building in Brooklyn collapsed at the edge of a construction site, New York City’s mayor said on Thursday, as firefighters kept digging through the rubble to find others who may be trapped beneath the wreckage.

The building in the Flatbush neighbourhood of Brooklyn came down on Wednesday afternoon.

At least 17 people have been injured, including three firefighters, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.

“There are no words for a loss of this magnitude,” Mamdani posted on X. “My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we have lost, those who are injured and everyone grieving today.”

Scores of firefighters and police officers wielding pickaxes and power saws clambered over the rubble pile overnight, punching holes through the ruins to pull dust-covered people from beneath piles of twisted wood and brick.

Rescuers used dogs to sniff for survivors. Firefighters used orange buckets as they removed debris from the rubble piles trying to reach people who may be trapped.

Heavy rain was forecast for the city on Thursday afternoon. It wasn't immediately known how that would affect search efforts.

The cause of the collapse was under investigation, but New York City’s buildings commissioner, Ahmed Tigani, noted that when the building fell, construction workers were excavating an empty lot next door for a new building.

Much of the rubble from the collapsed building – a mixed-use structure with apartments sitting atop ground-floor commercial space – wound up in a huge pile inside the construction pit. Another building that shared a wall with the collapsed structure remained standing, but its wall was shorn off, exposing the rooms inside, including a bedroom and closets filled with clothing.

About 250 firefighters were working the scene, Mamdani said. Two deaths were announced on Wednesday and the others were confirmed on Thursday.

On Wednesday night, firefighters pulled a woman – still alive and moving – out of a hole they had dug into the rubble pile, hoisting her up on a stretcher and rushing to a waiting ambulance. Additional people were pulled from beneath the pile as the night went on. (AP)


Edited by Edmond Fong