Investigators are trying to determine what caused the sudden collapse of a three-story apartment building in Brooklyn, New York, that killed at least eight people, as crews continued to search for survivors among the rubble. The structure, located at 1321 Flatbush Avenue, sat adjacent to a construction site before it collapsed Wednesday afternoon, according to city officials. City records show that it housed four apartments above a ground-floor commercial space.
Flatbush is a diverse Brooklyn neighborhood with a large immigrant population, including sizable Haitian, Jamaican and Trinidadian communities. Excavation of the adjacent empty lot, located at 2625 Bedford Avenue, began sometime within a 30-day window after the parcel’s owner informed neighboring landlords of the work via a June 10 letter, which stated that all precautions would be taken “to protect all properties adjacent.” New York City fire officials told reporters Wednesday that emergency personnel had received a call about a building collapse at 1321 Flatbush Avenue at 4:01 p.m. EST and some 250 firefighters and emergency responders had been dispatched to the scene. The investigation is being led by New York City’s building department and law enforcement partners, city officials said.
