Eight people have died and 18 have been injured in the collapse of a three-story building in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. Two children, aged 9 and 10, are among the victims, while four of those injured are firefighters. One of the injured people remains in critical condition, according to the authorities’ latest update.
Six of those killed were pulled from the rubble and pronounced dead at the scene. Two others died in hospital. The rescue operation has ended after it was determined that there were no more people in the collapse zone.
Who the victims were
New York City police identified the dead as Nicole Daniela Salvada Rodriguez, Kevin Santiago Reyes Gonzalez, Gabriel Sigüencia, Barry Mamadou, José Luis Caguana Cosquillo, Edgar Sapon, Juan Daniel Salvada Guzman and Ndiaye Mamadou. They were between 9 and 31 years old. Two of the victims were construction workers, city officials said.
The building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue had a commercial establishment on the ground floor and residential units above it. It collapsed into an adjacent excavation at a construction site on Bedford Avenue, where excavation work was underway at the time. Part of a neighboring building was also destroyed in the incident.
Investigation continues
The cause of the collapse has not yet been established. According to the city’s building commissioner, the site had an active permit for excavation and foundation work. A plan for a three-story building had been approved, while plans for a nine-story mixed-use building had not yet been approved.
A full stop-work order has been issued for the adjacent construction site. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered inspections of around 100 construction sites linked to the companies involved in the project.
“If there is a person or organization responsible for what happened, we will hold them fully accountable,” Mamdani said.The Fire Department has handed the site over to the Department of Buildings and the police. The investigation will determine whether actions or violations at the construction site contributed to the collapse.
Sources: apnews.com, abc7ny.com, cbsnews.com