At least eight people died after a three-story building in Brooklyn collapsed at the edge of a construction site, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Thursday, as emergency workers searched through the night for others still trapped. Search crews peered into crevices in the rubble, pulling out victims and at least one survivor, and at least 17 people were injured, including three firefighters. It was not clear how many more people might remain trapped.

The building, which housed apartments above ground-floor commercial space, gave way Wednesday afternoon while construction workers were digging at a neighboring lot, a city official said. The cause remains under investigation. Two deaths were announced Wednesday and the rest were confirmed Thursday, and authorities said at least seven children were among the injured or dead. Hairstylist Brigitte Anama, working at a salon across the street, said she heard a boom and saw smoke and dust everywhere, and watched emergency workers pull people from the site, including what appeared to be a child.S2S1

Hundreds of firefighters and police officers worked through the night with pickaxes and power saws, while rescue dogs sniffed piles of twisted wood and brick and two excavators removed large chunks of debris. Flatbush Avenue, a busy Brooklyn thoroughfare, remained at a standstill Thursday morning. Heavy rain was forecast for the afternoon, and Fire Department Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore warned it could hinder search-and-rescue operations, saying the debris would turn to mud.S2

Mayor Mamdani said his heart was with the families of those lost and those injured. The collapse is the second high-profile structural problem involving a New York building in the past five months, following July's evacuation of several Manhattan buildings after support columns buckled inside a skyscraper that was formerly the headquarters of Pfizer.S2