In the Brooklyn district: dead and injured after building collapse in New York

At least two people died and 17 others were injured when a residential building collapsed in New York. Seven children were among the injured, fire chief Lillian Bonsignore told reporters. Four injured people were therefore in mortal danger. It was initially unclear whether other victims were buried under the rubble. "We don't know how many people are still in the collapsed area," said Bonsignore.

More than 250 firefighters and paramedics as well as search dogs were involved in the recovery and rescue operation. It was an "extremely dangerous" operation in which the rescuers' actions had to be carefully coordinated so as not to endanger possible survivors under the mountain of rubble, said Bonsignore. A fire department employee was slightly injured.

Mayor Mamdani also at the scene of the accident

The mayor of the US east coast metropolis, Zohran Mamdani, went to the scene of the accident and spoke of a "devastating collapse". And: "It's an incredibly challenging and rapidly evolving situation - with unstable debris to work through and dangerous voids beneath the surface," he said. “The fire brigade trains for exactly this type of rescue operation.”

The building in the Brooklyn district collapsed completely on Wednesday afternoon (local time), and parts of the house fell into an immediately adjacent construction pit. It was initially unclear whether this pit contributed to the building's collapse - investigations into the cause are still ongoing.

The fire department spoke of a three-story building - although in the USA the ground floor is usually counted as the first floor. According to the information, the first fire department vehicle happened to be near the scene of the accident in the Flatbush district and was therefore on site within less than a minute of the alarm being raised. It was said that people were also trapped in the neighboring building due to the collapse. However, they were quickly freed.