New York City firefighters pulled three more bodies from the rubble of a collapsed building in Brooklyn on Thursday. Rescuers had earlier reported five dead, bringing the death toll to eight, the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) said.
The number of injured also rose. According to firefighters, 19 people in total were taken to hospitals, four of them in critical condition. Earlier reports put the number of injured at 17. Seven of the injured are children. It is not yet known whether children are also among the dead.
At least 250 firefighters are taking part in the search operation. Throughout the night, they used pickaxes and power saws to make their way through piles of debris, cutting openings in the ruins to pull people out.
“There are no words to describe the scale of the loss. My thoughts are with the families of the victims and their loved ones, the injured, and all those who are in mourning today,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on the social media platform X.
The three-story residential building collapsed Wednesday afternoon local time in central Brooklyn, an area made up mainly of residential buildings.
The cause of the collapse will be the subject of an investigation. However, New York City Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani noted that at the time of the incident, construction workers were excavating on an adjacent vacant lot for the construction of a new building. (PAP)
