Death toll in New York building collapse rises to 8

At least eight people have died after a three-story building in Brooklyn collapsed at the edge of a construction site, New York City’s mayor said on Thursday, as firefighters kept digging through the rubble to find others who may be trapped beneath the wreckage.

The building came down on Wednesday afternoon.

“There are no words for a loss of this magnitude,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted on social media. “My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we have lost, those who are injured and everyone grieving today.”

At least 17 people were hospitalised with injuries, including four in critical condition. The New York City Fire Department confirmed the additional deaths, and the other two deaths were announced on Wednesday.

Scores of firefighters and police officers wielding pickaxes and power saws clambered over the rubble pile overnight, punching holes through the ruins to pull dust-covered people from beneath piles of twisted wood and brick.

Rescuers used dogs to sniff for survivors. Firefighters used orange buckets as they removed debris from the rubble piles trying to reach people who may be trapped.

“This has been an incredibly challenging and fast-moving situation, with precarious wreckage to navigate and dangerous voids beneath the surface,” Mamdani said at a news conference on Wednesday. “This type of rescue is exactly what the FDNY trains for.”

Heavy rain was forecast for the city on Thursday afternoon. It was not immediately known how that would affect search efforts.

The cause of the collapse was under investigation, but New York City’s buildings commissioner, Ahmed Tigani, noted that when the building fell, construction workers were excavating an empty lot next door for a new building.

Much of the rubble from the collapsed building – a mixed-use structure with flats sitting atop ground-floor commercial space – wound up in a huge pile inside the construction pit. Another building that shared a wall with the collapsed structure remained standing, but its wall was sheared off, exposing the rooms inside, including a bedroom and wardrobes filled with clothing.

About 250 firefighters were working the scene, Mamdani said.

On Wednesday night, firefighters pulled a woman – still alive and moving – out of a hole they had dug into the rubble pile, hoisting her up on a stretcher and rushing to a waiting ambulance. Additional people were pulled from beneath the pile as the night went on.

Seven of the casualties were children, authorities said, without specifying whether any were among the dead.

FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said the rescue teams were performing “dangerous and perilous” work. “Every move is choreographed,” she said.

One firefighter sustained minor injuries, fire officials said.

Phone and email messages seeking comment were left on Wednesday with the architect, property owner and general contractor listed in city records as being associated with the construction project.