2 children among the 8 dead in New York City building collapse, officials say

Two children were among the eight people killed after a New York City apartment building collapsed, officials said Thursday, as rescuers fought the rain in their continued, frantic search for possible survivors. The FDNY crews were still in rescue mode more than 20 hours after the horrific collapse at 1321 Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn, the city’s most populous borough. “We will be here until we are 100% sure there are no more people trapped,” FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore told reporters. “To be clear, we have not shifted from rescue to recovery. We are still in the search-and-rescue phase.” Six of the eight killed were pronounced dead at the scene, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said. Two others died at the hospital. Before meeting with reporters at the scene, Mamdani said he visited victims recovering at the hospital. “This has been a very dark evening and morning for our city,” he said. “We are mourning too many people who we loved, and as we grieve and as we rebuild, we will do so together as one city.” FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe price of baby formula just set a dubious record FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow measles surged in the U.S. FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe price of baby formula just set a dubious record FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow measles surged in the U.S. The half-dozen dead adults also included a pair of construction workers, according to the mayor. There were 18 people injured, four of those were firefighters and 14 were civilians. One of those injured was listed in critical condition. “This is a devastating tragedy for New York and our prayers are with those who are recovering in the hospital and those who have died,” Bonsignore said. “The FDNY mourns with those families and we promise, with everything we have, we will not stop working until everyone is rescued or recovered.” The three-story apartment building came down at about 4 p.m. EST Monday, triggering a massive response from firefighters and other rescuers. Rescuers will be using heavier excavation equipment on Thursday that should be able to locate more bodies or survivors, officials said. “We we always assume that there are more people there until we can access the ground,” Bonsignore said. “So until we’ve removed some of the bigger, bigger debris and are able to search beneath them, this will remain a rescue operation” The collapsed building, with a business on the ground floor and two stories of residential units above, was next to an excavation site where single-floor building had been cleared. Since Wednesday afternoon’s collapse, rescue teams have been scouring the wreckage looking for any bodies or survivors under the rubble. The ongoing search also impacted neighboring residences with “water mains” shut down to 100 nearby buildings “so emergency crews can continue search and rescue operations,” according to a New York City Environment Protection statement on Thursday. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the collapse but investigators will likely pay equal attention to the fallen building and the excavation site next door. Owners of that emptied property had been cleared to dig a maximum of 14 feet down, according to a building application.