Eight people have died after a three-story apartment building collapsed into an adjacent construction site in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon, ABC7 New York reported Thursday. Two of the victims died in the hospital.
Seventeen others remain hurt, four of them critically. Seven children were among those treated, and a firefighter suffered minor injuries.
The building, a four-unit apartment house built in 1930 at 1321 Flatbush Avenue, near the corner of Bedford Avenue, came down shortly after 4 p.m. and fell into an open excavation site next door at 2625 Bedford Avenue, where workers were digging at the time. The collapse also tore away the side of the neighboring building at 1323 Flatbush Avenue, leaving its apartments exposed.
A fire company in the area reached the scene less than a minute after the collapse and found people trapped. Hundreds of firefighters searched through the unstable rubble overnight, recovering several bodies before dawn on Thursday.
FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said officials still do not know how many people were inside the building, and that more victims may be found.
One victim was identified by his brother to NBC New York as Jose Luis Caguana. Authorities have not released the names or ages of the other dead.
The Department of Buildings is investigating the cause of the collapse, and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said it is working with investigators to determine whether any criminal conduct contributed. The city has opened a reception center for displaced residents at the Flatbush YMCA.
