A three-story building collapses in Brooklyn, killing at least eight people, including two children

Tragedy in a residential neighborhood of Brooklyn, Flatbush, where on the afternoon of Wednesday 11 November a three-storey building collapsed, crumbling into the chasm of another building under construction. The death toll is at least eight victims, including two children. This was announced by the mayor of New York, Zorhan Mamdani, confirming that 18 other people were injured in the collapse, including four firefighters. Some of the injured are in critical condition, as the Fire Department announced in a statement. Rescue operations are still underway: firefighters are working to dig through the rubble in search of possible other people trapped. Rescue efforts are also made difficult by torrential rain and the risk of further collapses.

Mayor Mamdani on site

"Devastated" was the mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, who today went to the site of the collapse, a residential area characterized by a strong presence of Caribbean and African-American communities, but recently at the center of a rapid building transformation. "We have lost friends and neighbors," said the mayor of the Big Apple, inviting prayers for the victims. The city of New York issued an immediate stop to the new construction site and launched an investigation with the Brooklyn prosecutor's office.

Building already in 2021 "had cracks"

As reported by the New York Times, the 1930s building already in 2021 "was in poor condition with visible cracks on the facade". This is what we read in the report of an inspector from the building department. The construction site was located to the north of the collapsed building which housed a shop on the ground floor and four apartments inhabited by immigrant families: from the first assessments a picture emerges of lack of controls and shortcuts that would have allowed it to continue in the absence of the necessary safety conditions. According to municipal records reported by the Guardian, the adjacent construction site had already received complaints and fines in recent months for continuing work despite a previous stop due to the lack of adequate protection of nearby buildings.