The collapsed building was a four-unit apartment block built in 1930.
Construction workers were among those injured, according to local media reports.
At least two people were killed and 10 others injured after a three-storey apartment building collapsed in Brooklyn, New York, on Wednesday afternoon, trapping people under the rubble. One survivor was pulled out of the wreckage at around 6.30 pm, more than two hours after the collapse. Firefighters launched a rescue operation in the Flatbush neighbourhood, pulling at least two people alive from the debris as they searched for others who may still be trapped.
The New York City fire department said four people were critically injured and six others sustained minor injuries. A man who believed the first survivor was his six-month-pregnant wife told a WABC reporter, “I’m very happy, I’m very happy. “As emergency operations continue, please join me in holding our neighbours and the members of this community in our hearts,” he said in a statement posted on social media.
The injured were taken to hospitals. The department received a call about the building’s full collapse shortly after 4pm local time. Rescue teams worked through the evening, using their hands, power saws and search dogs to look for survivors. Drone footage and local television reports showed firefighters digging through the rubble and removing debris from the site. Flashlights were used as darkness fell. The dust-covered person was found alive and moving before being placed on a stretcher and rushed to an ambulance. Later, another person was also seen being rescued alive from the rubble. New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed his concern over the incident.