Eight dead as Brooklyn building falls into excavation; city probes builder's stop-work history

At least eight people died when a three-storey building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City, collapsed into an open excavation at the neighbouring construction site on Wednesday, November 11. The call to the fire department came in at about 4:01 pm local time. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said two of the dead were children and two were construction workers.

The building was close to a century old, with a shop at street level and apartments above. It fell into a pit being dug at 2625 Bedford Avenue, and a neighbouring building that shared a wall was left with its side sheared off. By Thursday the mayor put the number of injured at 18, including four firefighters.

The rescue

More than 250 firefighters and medics, with police, city emergency staff, the Red Cross and search dogs, worked through the night. Crews cut through debris with pickaxes and power saws. Several people were pulled out alive, among them a woman who was moving when rescued on Wednesday night. One resident, Anderson Velez, said his wife and their two children, aged 7 and 2, had been trapped and were later brought out alive.

Chief of Department John Esposito had warned on Wednesday that the operation could last several days, with the main danger being a second collapse of the partly standing neighbouring building. Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore described the work as “dangerous and perilous”. On Thursday afternoon crews were still in what she called the search and rescue phase. Later that day officials said there were no more victims and the fire department handed the site to the Buildings Department and the police.

Flatbush Avenue was closed between Clarendon Road and Bedford Avenue, and a reception centre for displaced residents opened at the Flatbush YMCA. Vacate orders now cover three nearby buildings at 1323, 1325 and 1327 Flatbush Avenue.

What the builder’s record shows

Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said workers were excavating the lot when the building fell. The site had approved plans for a three-storey building, he said, while plans for a nine-storey mixed-use building had not been approved.

The department says the developer held an active excavation and foundation permit and has now issued a full stop-work order. It has also disclosed an earlier history at the same address:

• In March, inspectors ordered work stopped after finding demolition under way without adequate overhead protection for neighbouring properties.
• In April, they found demolition had resumed in breach of that order, which brought a further violation.
• In May, the order was lifted after the project team corrected all violations.

No official has named a cause. The architect, owner and general contractor listed in city records were contacted and no comment has been reported.

Accountability

Mamdani said five entities tied to the Bedford Avenue site are connected to about 100 other construction sites across the city, and that the Buildings Department began sweeps of those sites on Thursday. “We will find out what happened, and we will share that information with New Yorkers,” he said. He added that anyone responsible would be held fully accountable. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams is separately examining allegations that the landlord of the collapsed building may have been negligent.

The Buildings Department and police are running the investigation. Mamdani wrote on X that “there are no words for a loss of this magnitude”.

The victims

The Consulate of Ecuador in New York identified one of the dead as José Luis Caguana Cosquillo, a construction worker who had lived in the United States for about six years. His brother, Carlos Caguana, said he leaves a pregnant wife and a young child. “He was the sole provider for the family. Now that he’s gone, she is going through an immense amount of pain,” Carlos Caguana said. Other victims had not been named in the reports available on Friday morning.

What happens next

The Buildings Department will keep the stop-work order in place while engineers examine the site and the adjoining structures, and inspectors are checking nearby buildings for stability. Displaced residents rely on the city’s reception centre for now. The mayor has promised a public account of the cause, but no date has been given for it. The findings could decide whether the builder faces penalties for the March and April violations, or whether the investigation widens to the other sites tied to the same companies.

How the Flatbush site reached Wednesday

1. March 2026Stop-work order at 2625 Bedford Avenue over demolition without overhead protection
2. April 2026Demolition resumes in breach of the order; new violation issued
3. May 2026Order lifted after violations are corrected
4. November 11, 2026Building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue falls into the pit at about 4:01 pm
5. November 12, 2026Rescue ends; site handed to inspectors; sweeps of linked sites begin