ASN NEWS USA — SPECIAL REPORT

By ASN News Editorial Desk

NEW YORK (ASN NEWS USA)— Eight people are dead, including two children, after a three-story building collapsed in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon. Rescue operations ended Thursday, with officials saying no additional victims were found in the rubble.

The building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue, with a store at street level and apartments above, came down around 4 p.m. Wednesday while construction workers were digging at an empty lot next door. Two of the dead were children, ages 9 and 10. Eighteen people were injured, including four firefighters. One person remained in critical condition Thursday afternoon.

The investigation widens

The cause is still under investigation, but New York City Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said workers were excavating the adjacent lot when the building buckled. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has ordered inspections at about 100 building sites involving companies related to the project.

Inspectors had already found problems at the site next door earlier this year. A stop-work order was issued in March after Department of Buildings inspectors found the building on the lot was being demolished without adequate overhead protection, and in April inspectors found demolition work had resumed in violation of that order.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said his office is looking at whether any criminal conduct contributed to the collapse. The victims included people from Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador and Trinidad. The collapsed building, constructed in 1930, held four apartments on its upper floors and a commercial unit at ground level.

Stay tuned to ASN News USA for updates as investigators work to determine what brought this building down — and who is responsible.

Reported by ASN News USA. Visit asnnewsusa.com or follow @ASNNewsUSA for updates.

ASN NEWS USA: Real News. Real Voices. Real Change.