Eight people, including two children, are dead after a three-story apartment building collapsed in Brooklyn's Flatbush neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon, and firefighters ended their search Thursday afternoon after determining that no more victims remained.
The building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue fell at about 4 p.m. Wednesday into an excavation pit at the construction site next door, officials said. Six bodies were pulled from the rubble overnight, and two more people died after being taken to area hospitals.
The victims identified by police included 10-year-old Kevin Santiago Reyes Gonzalez and 9-year-old Nicole Daniela Rodriguez, who were cousins, along with Gabriel Siguencia, 22; Mamadou Barry, 23; Edgar Santiago Sapon Gutierrez, 26; Jose Luis Caguana Cosquillo, 26; and Juan Daniel Salvada Guzman, 31. An eighth victim, a 35-year-old man, had not yet been identified. Eighteen people were injured, including four firefighters, and one person remained in critical condition Thursday afternoon.
The Fire Department said it concluded rescue operations at about 3:37 p.m. Thursday, nearly 24 hours after the collapse, and handed the site to the Department of Buildings and the Police Department. About 250 firefighters and emergency workers had combed the rubble through the night, at one point pulling a survivor alive from the debris; a pregnant woman was among those rescued.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani pledged a full investigation, saying the buildings department had identified five entities involved in the neighboring construction site and was sweeping about 100 other properties tied to the firms. Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said construction workers had been excavating the adjacent lot when the building fell; the cause remains under investigation.
The American Red Cross said 14 adults and five children from seven households had registered for emergency assistance, including temporary housing. The Colombian consulate confirmed that two minors and one adult killed were Colombian citizens, and Ecuador's consulate confirmed that Caguana and Siguencia were among the dead.
