Two people were killed and 17 others, including children, were injured on Wednesday after a three-story building collapsed near a construction site in New York, according to city officials.
Images from the scene showed firefighters searching through a pile of rubble in front of what appeared to be a residential building, whose walls had collapsed.
The building fell into an adjacent excavation site, trapping several people beneath the rubble. Fire crews worked for hours to rescue them, using drones, trained police dogs, and power saws.
Lillian Bonsignore, New York City Fire Department Commissioner, told reporters at the scene in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn on Wednesday evening: “We don’t know how many people are still in the collapse zone, and this is going to be a long operation.”
She added that the incident had left two people dead, whose ages were not disclosed, and 17 others injured, including seven children. Four of the injured were in critical condition.
The New York City Fire Department announced on the social media platform X that more than 250 firefighters and emergency medical personnel had been dispatched to the scene, confirming that the cause of the collapse remained under investigation.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani praised the efforts of emergency response teams, noting that the site contained “unstable debris that is difficult to navigate, and dangerous voids beneath the surface.”
During a press conference, he said: “I want to ask New Yorkers to take a moment to pray for those we lost today, and for all those who are mourning them.”
Meanwhile, a witness who identified himself only as Anthony told PIX11 News that he heard people screaming, along with a thunderous sound resembling a bomb explosion as the building collapsed.
Another witness, Melissa Orna, recounted the moments leading up to the incident to The New York Times, saying: “The building started shaking and then collapsed.”
The city’s Department of Buildings said its inspectors had been dispatched to the site “to assist with rescue operations and conduct structural safety inspections of neighboring buildings.”
The department’s commissioner, Ahmed El-Tijani, explained that construction workers were carrying out excavation work when the collapse occurred. He noted that developers had obtained approval to construct a three-story building on the site, while they were seeking a permit to build a nine-story structure.
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Author: Counselor Faisal Al-Mutairi.
Publication Date: November 12, 2026.
Last Updated: November 2026.
