One Dead, 12 Injured After Brooklyn Building Collapse

A building collapse in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood killed one person and injured 12 on Wednesday, November 11, FDNY officials said. Six people were critically injured and six had less serious injuries. The collapse occurred near Flatbush Avenue and Bedford Avenue around 4 p.m., prompting a rescue operation that continued into the evening. Firefighters removed two people from the rubble soon after the collapse. An injured person was brought out on a stretcher around 4:45 p.m., and two more people were carried out on stretchers shortly after 6:30 p.m. The damaged structure appeared to have three stories and a ground-floor business. It stood beside an excavation site where a one-story building had previously been demolished. A wall of an adjacent building was torn away, exposing rooms. The cause of the collapse had not been established. The city’s Department of Buildings said inspectors were assisting recovery operations and checking the structural stability of nearby buildings while firefighters continued searching. Governor Kathy Hochul said: “My heart breaks for the family who lost a loved one in today’s building collapse in Brooklyn.” She said her administration had offered support as authorities investigate. Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani confirmed that first responders were working at the scene and said Flatbush Avenue was closed between Clarendon Road and Bedford Avenue.