At least two people have died and 17 others, including seven children, were injured after a three-story mixed-use building collapsed into an adjacent construction excavation site in Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon.
​The collapse occurred just after 4:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, at 2625 Bedford Avenue, near Flatbush Avenue, in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn.
The three-story structure, which housed ground-floor businesses and upper-level apartments, gave way and tumbled into a deep pit next door where a one-story structure had recently been demolished for a new construction project. The force of the collapse also sheared off the shared wall of a neighboring building, leaving bedrooms and closets exposed to the street.
​Around 250 firefighters, alongside police, emergency medical services, K-9 search units, and aerial drones, converged on the scene and worked overnight into Thursday morning searching the unstable rubble for possible survivors. A local fire crew that happened to be in the neighborhood arrived within one minute of the collapse and pulled the first victims from the debris.
Roughly two to two-and-a-half hours into the operation, around 6:30 p.m., rescuers pulled several more survivors from beneath the bricks and timber, including a six-month-pregnant woman, a toddler, and a mother with her two children, ages 2 and 7.
​Authorities confirmed 19 known victims in total, comprising two fatalities and 17 injured individuals, seven of whom are children. Four of the injured remain in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, while the remaining victims are reported to be in stable condition. One firefighter also sustained minor injuries during the emergency response.
​Speaking at the scene, New York City Fire Department Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore confirmed the casualty figures while declining to state whether the two deceased victims were adults or children.
Describing the search as a prolonged operation, Bonsignore emphasized the delicate nature of the rescue effort, noting that units are performing dangerous and heroic work where every move must be choreographed, as disrupting the debris piles by moving too quickly could have detrimental consequences.
​FDNY Chief Spokesperson Esposito echoed those concerns, warning that the exact number of missing individuals remains unknown and estimating that it will take rescue teams several days to search the entire site for all potential victims.
​New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani briefed reporters on the deployment of the 250 firefighters and shared a statement on social media urging public solidarity, asking residents to hold their neighbors and members of the affected community in their hearts as emergency operations continue.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams also addressed reporters at the Flatbush site, recounting how he witnessed a toddler being pulled from the wreckage and asking New Yorkers to pray for anyone still trapped beneath the rubble.
​Meanwhile, New York City Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani confirmed that construction workers were actively excavating the neighboring lot at the time of the collapse. Department of Buildings inspectors remain on-site to assess the structural stability of surrounding properties.
​To assist displaced residents and affected families, New York City Emergency Management has established a reception and assistance center at the Flatbush YMCA, located at 1401 Flatbush Avenue. The official cause of the collapse remains under a joint investigation by the FDNY and the Department of Buildings.
