Brooklyn building collapse updates: 2 children among the dead as search concludesN'dea Yancey-Bragg, James Powel, Thao Nguyen, Saman Shafiq and Chris Quintana, USA TODAY... See moreFri, November 13, 2026 at 12:23 PM UTC
Two children and six adults, including two construction workers, were killed as a three-story apartment building collapsed in Brooklyn, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a midday news conference on Thursday, Nov. 12.
Six victims died at the scene, Mamdani said, while two others died in nearby hospitals. The New York Police Department confirmed to USA TODAY that six adults in their 20s and early 30s, a 9-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy were among the dead.
Eighteen people − 14 civilians and four firefighters − were injured as a result of the collapse that occurred at 1321 Flatbush Avenue in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
The New York City Fire Department announced on social media that rescue operations concluded at 3:37 p.m. ET on Thursday and that it had determined that there are "no more victims" at the site.
Mamdani said the "vast majority of those still being treated in hospitals are in stable condition," and one person is in critical condition. Officials warned that the death toll may still rise.
The building collapsed into an adjacent construction site at about 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 11, trapping residents and construction workers beneath the debris. A full vacate order has been issued for the fallen building, in addition to three other buildings − at 1323, 1325 and 1327 Flatbush Avenue − Mamdani said.
City records indicate the building had a long history of hazardous violations, stretching back to 1972. Of the 98 violations, 21 are Class C or “immediately hazardous” violations for issues including peeling lead paint, a leaking roof and unsafe electrical wiring.
The vacate order for the building on the New York City’s Department of Buildings website had said the collapse was due to "unsafe construction operations at the adjacent property, 2625 Bedford Avenue.” By Thursday afternoon, the site no longer contained that language.
USA TODAY has contacted the Department of Buildings for comment about the update.
In pictures: Visuals show scope of destruction after Brooklyn building collapse
American Red Cross has registered seven households, consisting of 14 adults and five children, for "emergency assistance including temporary lodging," spokesperson Stephanie Fox said in an email to USA TODAY on Nov. 12.
Fox said the organization, "together with New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM)," opened a service center at 9 a.m. ET at the YMCA Flatbush "to continue to support the residents affected by the building collapse." A NYCEM spokesperson said the center will be open until 6 p.m.
"At the center, residents are able to connect with government and nonprofit agencies for support," she added.
Mamdani, during Thursday's press conference, added that "the city and the Red Cross are continuing to provide expanded services from the YMCA, including temporary housing for displaced residents, assistance with social services, and mental health support."
World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit founded by Chef José Andrés, announced that it will provide meals to first responders and families impacted by the collapse.
Search operations conclude
More than 250 firefighters and EMS personnel responded within a minute and began searching the wreckage for survivors. Rescue personnel operated overnight under "extremely dangerous conditions to find and save anyone who may still be trapped," and work continued on Nov. 12, Mamdani said, advising the public to "please stay clear of the area."
The New York City Fire Department, in an update the morning of Nov. 12, said its "units continue to operate Thursday morning at the site of a building collapse."
Visuals and photos from the site show that much of the debris from the collapsed building fell into a hole in the ground, part of the nearby construction site. Dozens of first responders swarmed the site and used ladders to descend down piles of dirt into the debris, video footage showed. K9s were also seen sniffing through the rubble for survivors and victims.
FDNY Chief John Esposito said in a news conference the night of the collapse that authorities did not know how many people were missing at the time and noted that the massive search operation could take "several days."
Thursday afternoon, the department announced the completion of rescue operations. The collapse site has been turned over to the Department of Buildings and the New York Police Department.
Officials cautioned that the number of victims could change.
"There are no words for a loss of this magnitude," Mamdani said. "My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we have lost, those who are injured and everyone grieving today."
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement on social media that her "heart breaks" for the victims and that the state will offer "full support" to the investigation.
Who are the victims of the Brooklyn building collapse?
Two children and six adults, including two construction workers, were killed in the building collapse. The NYPD identified the dead to USA TODAY as:
Nicole Daniela Salvada Rodriguez, 9
Kevin Santiago Reyes Gonzalez, 10
Gabriel Siguencia, 22
Barry Mamadou, 23
Jose Luis Caguana Cosquillo, 26
Edgar Sapón, 26
Juan Daniel Salvada Guzman, 31
Ndiaye Mamadou, 31
WNBC reported that Caguana leaves behind a son and pregnant wife. Segundo Iza, who grew up in Ecuador with Caguana, told Gothamist that his friend came the U.S. to "achieve many dreams" and "find better days for our children and our parents."
Luis Siguencia, Siguencia's father, told Gothamist that his son recently arrived from Ecuador and had been working on the foundation at the construction site for the last two weeks.
"He wanted to get ahead. Because we all come here with the dream of getting ahead," Luis said.
The New York Times reports that the Barry and Ndiaye Mamdou were relatives from Guinea. Barry was a food delivery worker who was preparing for a shift when the building collapsed. Ndiaye worked for Amazon.
Sapón was working at the construction site when the building collapsed, according to the Times. He had immigrated from Guatemala three years ago his uncle, Eliseo Vásquez Talé, told the newspaper. Talé said that Sapón came to the country to "find a better life." He leaves behind a wife and six-year-old son.
The Ecuadorian Consulate in New York initially identified Siguencia and Caguana in a statement posted to social media. The Colombian Consulate confirmed that the two children and an adult were Colombian citizens in a social media post.
Eighteen people −14 civilians and four firefighters − were injured as a result of the collapse, and while many of those are in stable condition, one person is critical, Mamdani said.
The New York City Fire Department previously confirmed to USA TODAY that five victims were determined to be dead on arrival.
Officials had previously said that at least seven children were among the victims, though they did not specify their conditions or ages at the time. New York City Fire Department Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said one firefighter was among those who suffered minor injuries.
How did the Brooklyn building collapse?
While Mamdani previously said that the city's Department of Buildings and law enforcement agencies would investigate what caused the deadly collapse, the New York City Department of Buildings, on its website, said the collapse was “caused by unsafe construction operations at the adjacent property.” Authorities added that the entire building is “unsafe to enter and/or occupy.”
"A tragedy of this magnitude demands a comprehensive and thorough investigation that includes both the construction site and the building which collapsed," Mamdani said during the press conference. "That has already begun with the Department of Buildings and law enforcement leading it. We will find out what happened, and we will share that information with New Yorkers."
More: How a Brooklyn apartment building fell into a construction pit
He added that the Department of Buildings had identified five entities associated with the construction site.
"Those five entities are associated with 100 other sites across the city. The Department of Buildings is commencing sweeps of those sites to ensure that if there is anything New Yorkers need to be worried about, that we are on the scene, and we are doing something about it."
USA TODAY has reached out to N Tech Design of America Corp., a construction company linked to the neighboring site in city records, for comment.
The fallen structure was a four-unit apartment building dating to 1930, Reuters reported.
Esposito said the building suffered a complete collapse into an adjacent construction site where excavation work was underway. Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani also confirmed that crews had been conducting excavation work before the collapse.
"It's a very unstable situation. The adjoining building that remains partially intact is always a danger, where the main concern is a secondary collapse," Esposito said at the news conference. "We've taken measures to keep an eye on that and try to ensure that there is no further collapse."
Collapsed building had previous 'immediately hazardous' violations
The 96-year-old, three-story apartment building that collapsed in Brooklyn on Nov. 11 had a long history of hazardous violations, city records show.
In recent years, the building has been repeatedly ordered to provide adequate water supply for the sprinkler and/or standpipe system as well as repair, replace or provide a smoke detector. “A fire guard must be provided immediately due to the exigency of the dangerous fire hazard conditions observed,” a violation description from 2024 reads.
The building is owned by Isolag Realty group, according to a stop work order on the city’s Department of Buildings' website. Olufemi Falade is listed in a state database as the registered agent for that business and as the head officer, managing agent and shareholder for Femi Realty Corp., the previous owner of the property, on the HPD website.
Falade faced jail time in 2006 after failing to remedy housing violations at some of his buildings, The New York Times reported. The New York Daily News reported that Falade was handed a 12-day sentence and $50,000 in fines for failing to fix more than 600 violations.
“The city will not tolerate residents living in inhuman conditions,” then-Housing Preservation Development chief Shaun Donovan said at a press conference at the time, according to the New York Daily News.
USA TODAY has reached out to the HPD, the DOB and a number listed for Falade for comment.
Brooklyn building: Hazards, cracks preceded deadly collapse, records show
Independent investigation into collapse needed, expert says
A report filed in March with the city’s Department of Buildings described the collapsed building’s north facade as being “in poor condition with noticeable cracks identified."
Reports documenting pre-existing damage are often intended to protect developers from allegations that they caused new damage to nearby structures, according to Glenn Corbett, a former member of the federal advisory committee of the National Construction Safety Team. While cracks are not uncommon in old buildings like the one which collapsed, the issues documented in the report probably should have sparked further investigation, said Corbett, now an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
“That should have triggered somebody going back there and looking at, 'Why is this wall cracked, and if I start digging 25 feet away, how is that going to affect this?'” he said. “And I’m guessing they didn’t do that because they didn’t think the soil would move.”
Corbett, who said he has been following news of the collapse closely, said he believes that something went wrong with the shoring system and caused an influx of soil from the adjacent properties into the excavation pit. That could have pushed the shoring up at a 45 degree angle and destabilized the neighboring building, he said.
What could have caused the potential shoring failure requires further, independent investigation, he said.
A complaint on the Department of Building’s website on Nov. 12 expressed concern that too much of the area near the neighboring foundation may have been excavated at once.
“I believe the collapse may have been preventable,” the complaint reads. “Please determine whether the excavation sequence, the extent of foundation exposure, or the soil and groundwater conditions contributed to the collapse.”
Corbett said the complaint sounds like the observations of someone with engineering expertise, and that the concerns raised could have contributed to the collapse.
“It’s very possible,” he said. “Right now, you can’t really assess that until we understand everything that’s going on here.”
What we know about the construction site
NBC and Fox News reported that the developers of the construction site were seeking to build a nine-story, mixed-use building with a grocery store on the first floor and residential housing on the floors above. Developers had approval for a three-story building, but the nine-story plan had not yet been approved, Fox reported.
N Tech Design of America, a construction company working on the site, demolished a one-story building there despite a stop-work order issued in March, according to a summons issued by the city in April.
In June, certified letters were sent to adjacent properties notifying them that excavation would begin within 30 days, NBC reported.
Tornado warning for Queens, near search and rescue area, expires
Across town from the building collapse site in Brooklyn, a tornado warning that had been issued Thursday afternoon for portions of Queens in New York City has expired, the National Weather Service said.
It's been replaced by a flash flood warning due to ongoing heavy rain.
Although no tornado was spotted, conditions had been ripe for a twister to form: "At 1:13 pm EST, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Rockaway Beach, moving northeast at 15 mph," the weather service said.
The storm moved near JFK Airport, but no tornadoes touched down.
The severe weather is part of a larger storm system that's caused much of New Jersey and portions of eastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware to be under a tornado watch until the evening.
– Doyle Rice
Cold, wet weather forecast
Rain had already begun coming down in Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon and is expected to continue through the day and into Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
"The work done here over the last 20 hours has been incredibly heroic," FDNY Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said speaking alongside Mamdani on Thursday. "We are in the middle of a rainstorm, but that will not stop our operations here. It will definitely hinder our efforts, but this type of emergency is something our members train extensively for, and we will be here until we are 100% sure there are no more people trapped."
Temperatures are expected to drop from highs in the lower 60s on Thursday to lows in the upper 30s on Friday night, and gusts up to 30 mph will whip the area at times. AccuWeather reported that the gusty winds will "usher in the coldest air of the season so far on Friday."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brooklyn building collapse updates: 2 children among the dead as search concludes
Source: Crime
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