Eight dead in the Brooklyn collapse, two of them children, and New York orders checks on 100 building sites linked to the dig next door

Eight people are now confirmed dead after a three-storey apartment building on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn collapsed into the excavation site beside it, and New York has turned its attention to the companies behind that dig.

Six adults and two children died: six were found in the wreckage and two died later in hospital. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said two of the dead were construction workers on the neighbouring site. Eighteen people were injured, among them four firefighters. The building was home to several immigrant families, and two Ecuadorian nationals are among the dead. Police have identified all eight.

The fire department said on Thursday evening, New York time (Friday morning AWST), that it had searched the entire site and found no more victims, ending almost 24 hours of rescue work by about 250 firefighters and paramedics. The site has been handed to the Department of Buildings.

Who is being investigated?

On Thursday, Mayor Mamdani ordered inspections of about 100 construction sites connected to five entities linked to the project at 2625 Bedford Avenue, the lot next door where the excavation was under way. The Department of Buildings said it was starting sweeps of those sites the same day. The five entities have not been publicly named.

Mr Mamdani said he was deeply troubled. “We will hold them fully accountable,” he said, if anyone is found responsible.

The Department of Buildings and police are leading the investigation, with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office involved. It covers both the building that fell and the site beside it. Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said investigators still needed better access to the site. No arrests have been announced.

What is known about the cause?

Officially, nothing yet. Excavation on the neighbouring lot began earlier this year, after a one-storey building there was demolished, and a construction company filing in September listed rock blasting as part of the earthwork. Investigators have not said whether either played a part.

Is the rest of the block safe?

Three neighbouring addresses on the same side of Flatbush Avenue remain under vacate orders while engineers check them. Some residents further along the street have been allowed home. Part of Flatbush Avenue remains closed, buses have been diverted, and a reception centre for affected families is running at the Flatbush YMCA.

Why does it matter beyond Brooklyn?

Excavation beside old brick buildings is one of the riskiest jobs in a dense city: digging next to a shared wall can undermine foundations that were never meant to stand alone. Checking 100 sites at once is the city’s way of finding out whether anything that went wrong here is happening elsewhere, before the cause is known.

VNN will update this story as more is confirmed.