Terrifying video has captured the moment a family survived a building collapse in Brooklyn, while neighbors said their homes had been shaking for weeks because of construction at a nearby site.
Eight people were killed when the three-story building in Flatbush gave way at about 4 p.m. Wednesday, as crews excavated an adjoining lot.
Newly released footage from inside one apartment shows Anderson Velez’s family—including his 9-year-old and 2-year-old sons—as the walls began to crumble around them.
Velez was away when the collapse occurred in the clip, which was shared by CBS News. His wife and children were inside.
Velez said his wife and 9-year-old child were hospitalized, while his younger son escaped without injury.
A 44-year-old man who has lived in a neighboring building for seven years said the property had been shaking every day since construction began nearby about a month ago.
‘Since those people started building next door it’s everyday, every minute you hear it and feel it,’ the man, who was not named, told the US Sun outside the collapse.
Anderson Velez was away when the building collapsed, but his wife and their two sons, ages 2 and 9, were inside
Video shows the moment a three-story Brooklyn building collapsed at about 4 p.m. Wednesday, killing eight people and injuring 18
The building on Flatbush Avenue collapsed while crews were excavating an adjoining lot
Dervie Mapp, a 67-year-old retiree who lives beside the construction site, said she and other residents had raised complaints about the project for months. She witnessed the building come down.
‘People were running up out of the pit, screaming and hollering,’ Mapp told the Associated Press. ‘I couldn’t believe it.’
Mapp said she ‘froze’ while watching ‘the whole thing come down.’
She said her landlord had previously brought engineers into the property, but residents were never given a copy of any inspection report.
Sumathy Kumar, executive director of New York State Tenant Bloc and Housing Justice for All, said landlord Olufemi Falade had a ‘track record of tenant neglect,’ according to CNN.
Councilmember Farah Louis, who represents the neighborhood, also described Falade as a problem landlord who failed to keep his properties up to code.
The eight victims included two Colombian children, Nicole Daniela Salvada Rodriguez, 9, and Kevin Santiago Reyes Gonzalez, 10, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police and the Ecuadorian consulate in New York identified two additional victims as José Luis Caguana Cosquillo, 26, and Gabriel Siguencia, 22.
Police also confirmed that Juan Daniel Salvada Guzman, 31, Ndiaye Mamadou, 31, Barry Mamadou, 23, and Edgar Sapon, 26, died in the collapse.
A resident of a neighboring building said his home had been shaking daily since nearby construction began
José Luis Caguana Cosquillo, 26, an Ecuadorian migrant whose wife was heavily pregnant, was among those killed in the Brooklyn collapse
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Thursday that inspections had been ordered at roughly 100 New York City construction sites linked to companies involved in the project
On Thursday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered inspections at approximately 100 construction sites across the city connected to companies involved in the project.
‘If there is anyone, or any entity, operating in this city that bears responsibility for what happened, we will hold them fully accountable,’ Mamdani said at a Thursday afternoon news conference.
Mamdani said 18 people—14 civilians and four firefighters—were injured in the disaster.
Most remained hospitalized in stable condition, although one person was reported to be in critical condition.
Built in the 1930s, the structure was a mixed-use building with apartments on the upper floors and a ground-floor business. It stood beside a lot where a one-story building had been demolished for a new construction project.
Ahmed Tigani, commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings, said crews were excavating the vacant lot next door when the building collapsed.
City officials said a stop-work order had been issued in March after inspectors determined that the neighboring building was being demolished without sufficient overhead protection, including netting designed to shield nearby properties.
Inspectors found in April that demolition had resumed despite the order.
The work was permitted to resume in May after officials said the violations had been addressed.
Mamdani said 18 people—14 civilians and four firefighters—were injured in the collapse
A full stop-work order was issued for the adjacent construction site after Wednesday’s collapse
First responders navigated a massive mound of debris as they searched for and rescued people trapped by the collapse.
Video showed firefighters pulling a pregnant woman from the rubble on Wednesday before rushing her to an awaiting ambulance.
Building records cited by the AP show that the collapsed property contained four apartments across its upper two floors and a commercial space on the ground level.
Resident James Williams said he was inside his third-floor apartment when the building began to fall.
‘All I know is I was with the wife and then we just heard some rumbling, the next thing you know, just open the door and happen to see the outside,’ Williams told 1010 WINS.
He said he later noticed a bright light before first responders reached him.
‘Everybody’s traumatized, we all are,’ Williams said. ‘Because one minute, we’re all just living our normal lives and the next minute, before our eyes, this just happened so suddenly.’
A person was seen being taken away on a stretcher after the Brooklyn building collapsed
The property had 98 open housing violations, including reports of bedbugs and leaks, according to CBS News.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said his office was ‘looking into disturbing things we heard about the property and the property owner who may have been negligent.’
Williams added that the landlord ‘may have been on our worst landlord watchlist, one of the years recently.’
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said his office was coordinating with the Department of Buildings and other law enforcement agencies to establish whether criminal conduct played a role in the collapse.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the collapse ‘horrific’ and said, ‘New Yorkers deserve to know how and why this happened.’
