At least two people have been killed and 17 others injured after a three-story building collapsed in Brooklyn, New York, leaving residents trapped beneath a mountain of rubble.

The devastating incident occurred shortly after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, November 11 2026, in the Flatbush neighborhood, sparking a massive rescue operation involving approximately 250 firefighters and emergency personnel.

Four people are in critical condition, while seven children are among those who received medical treatment, according to local authorities.

Dramatic footage from the scene captured emergency workers desperately digging through the wreckage, using power saws, search dogs and drones to locate survivors.

The building, which housed apartments above ground-floor businesses, collapsed into a neighboring construction site where excavation work was underway.

Pregnant woman and children rescued from Brooklyn building collapse

Among those pulled from the wreckage was a woman whose husband told reporters she was pregnant.

The man had been desperately pleading for information about his wife as firefighters searched through the debris.

Just after 6:15 p.m., rescue crews located a conscious woman buried beneath the rubble, eventually lifting her to safety on a stretcher and transporting her to a waiting ambulance.

“She is alive. She is still alive. I’m very happy,” her husband told CBS News New York following the dramatic rescue.

Another resident, Anderson Velez, revealed that his wife and their two young children, ages seven and two, had been trapped inside when the building suddenly gave way.

He told the New York Post that his wife had called him from beneath the debris, desperately asking for help before their phone connection was lost.

All three were subsequently pulled from the wreckage alive.

New York Mayor addresses deadly Brooklyn building collapse

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani described the rescue operation as incredibly challenging, with unstable debris and dangerous spaces beneath the collapsed structure complicating efforts to reach survivors.

Firefighters continued searching through the wreckage into the night amid fears that more people could remain trapped.

“We do not know how many people were missing overall,” FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito told reporters.

The collapse also caused significant damage to an adjoining building, tearing away an exterior wall and exposing bedrooms and other living spaces.

City officials confirmed that construction workers had been carrying out excavation work on the neighboring site at the time of the disaster.

However, the cause of the collapse has not yet been determined, and the city’s Department of Buildings is investigating.

Authorities have urged residents to avoid the surrounding streets while emergency operations continue.