Eight killed as 1930s Brooklyn building collapses into construction site

Eight people died when a 1930s residential building in Brooklyn collapsed into an adjacent construction site on Wednesday afternoon, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.

The collapse occurred at about 16:00 EST (21:00 GMT). A loud boom was heard by residents, and a wall of the building tore away, exposing several apartments and dumping rubble onto the construction area where crews were working.

Six adults and two children were among the dead, including two construction workers. Five of the victims were residents of the building, while three lived elsewhere in the city. The mayor visited survivors in hospital on Thursday and noted that one person remains in critical condition and a further 18 people were injured, including four firefighters.

Emergency services arrived within a minute of the 911 call. Search and rescue operations continued for about 24 hours, using drones, sniffer dogs and cranes, before officials declared that no further victims were likely to be trapped.

Mayor Mamdani said the city will review the companies operating the construction site and inspect 100 other sites run by the same groups to ensure safety. Residents gathered on Thursday to watch the ongoing recovery work, expressing shock and grief over the loss of neighbours from diverse immigrant backgrounds.

Source: BBC News. Photo: Doğan Alpaslan Demir / Pexels.