The building collapse in NYC on Wednesday afternoon turned a Brooklyn block into a disaster zone. A three-story structure fell at the edge of a construction site, killing at least two people and burying others under the wreckage.

Firefighters moved in fast. Scores of them, joined by police officers, scrambled across the rubble with pickaxes and power saws. For hours they punched openings through twisted wood and brick, pulling dust-covered survivors out of the debris one rescue at a time. Footage of firefighters digging through the ruins spread quickly.

Hospitals Fill Up as the Search Stretches Into the Night

At least 17 people were taken to hospitals, officials said at a news conference. Four were in critical condition.

The New York City Fire Department said the search and rescue would run deep into the night. No one could say for certain whether more people remained trapped.

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

What Investigators Know So Far

The cause is still under investigation. But Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani pointed to a telling detail: when the structure came down, workers were excavating an empty lot next door to make room for a new building.

The collapsed structure was a mixed-use building, with apartments stacked above ground-floor commercial space. Much of it spilled into the construction pit like a deck of cards swept off a table, forming an enormous pile of debris.

A neighboring building that shared a wall with it stayed upright, but just barely intact in one sense. Its wall was sheared away, leaving rooms exposed to the open air, including a bedroom and closets still full of clothing.

Mamdani said about 250 firefighters were working the scene.

A Rescue at 6:30 p.m. Changes the Mood

Then came a moment of hope. Around 6:30 p.m., firefighters hauled a woman out of a hole they had carved into the pile. She was alive and moving. Rescuers lifted her out on a stretcher and rushed her to a waiting ambulance.

More people were pulled from the wreckage as night fell. Seven of the casualties were children, authorities said, though they did not specify whether any of them were among the dead.

Hands, Dogs and a Drone

The operation mixed old-school grit with new technology. A drone hovered overhead while firefighters dug by hand, flinging chunks of rubble aside. Search dogs sniffed the ruins for signs of life. When darkness settled in, rescuers worked by flashlight, each beam picking out a small circle of the ruins.

FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore described the work as “dangerous and perilous.” In a pile this unstable, she said, “Every move is choreographed.”

One firefighter suffered minor injuries, fire officials said.

Those Tied to the Project Stay Silent

Phone and email messages seeking comment were left with the architect, property owner and general contractor listed in city records as connected to the construction project. None had responded.

A Husband’s Frantic Phone Call

For one family, the building collapse in NYC arrived as a phone call. Anderson Velez, a resident of the collapsed building, told the New York Post he was at work when his wife called. She and their two children, ages 7 and 2, were trapped.

“She called me when the building collapsed while she was inside with rubble on top of her,” he said. “She was screaming for someone to help get my son out and then the call cut off.”

Velez said he later learned his family had been pulled from the rubble alive.