A man broke down in tears after learning that his pregnant wife had been rescued alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in Brooklyn, New York City.
The unidentified man embraced NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams as he wept with relief after his six-months-pregnant wife was pulled from the debris of the building collapse.
“I have an update. She is alive, she is still alive. I am very happy,” he said, according to ABC News.
The man ran down Flatbush Avenue after news of the collapse emerged shortly after 4pm on Wednesday, desperately searching for his wife.
According to the outlet, he tried to push past emergency responders to reach her before being led away to safety.
As rescue operations continued into the evening, the man repeatedly pleaded with officials for information about his wife.
“I’ve heard nothing. She’s inside the building. She’s pregnant,” he told reporters and police.
Footage showed a man being pulled from the rubble at about 4.45pm and taken away on a stretcher.
The man embraced NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams while crying with relief after his six-months-pregnant wife was rescued from the rubble in Flatbush
Drone footage showed a woman, later identified as the man’s wife, being carried alive from the collapse site on a stretcher at about 6.30pm, with a blue blanket covering her stomach
The man ran down Flatbush Avenue after learning shortly after 4pm on Wednesday that the building had collapsed
The emotional rescue was one of the few hopeful moments in a tragic day in Brooklyn, where NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed that two people had died
At around 6.30pm, the desperate husband finally received word that his wife had been located and brought out from beneath the debris.
Drone footage showed a woman, later confirmed to be his wife, being carried from the site on a stretcher with a blue blanket draped over her stomach.
She was taken to hospital by ambulance. After learning that she had survived, the man told the outlet: “I’m very happy. I want to thank all of you guys.”
The tearful reunion marked one of the day’s few moments of relief in Brooklyn, where NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed that two people had died in the collapse.
Officials said another 17 people were injured, including seven children and a firefighter. The injuries ranged from critical to non-life-threatening.
The three-story residential building collapsed into an open construction site shortly after 4pm, trapping several people beneath the rubble, including workers who were at the site, the FDNY said.
Mamdani called the incident “devastating,” adding: “This has been an incredibly challenging and fast-moving situation, with precarious wreckage to navigate and dangerous voids beneath the surface.”
More than 250 firefighters and emergency personnel responded and “worked tirelessly to secure the scene and rescue those who were trapped,” the mayor said.
Officials said 17 people were injured, including seven children and a firefighter, with injuries ranging from critical to non-life-threatening
The three-story residential building collapsed into an open construction site shortly after 4pm, trapping several people, including workers who were at the site
More than 250 firefighters and emergency personnel reached the scene and “worked tirelessly to secure the area and rescue those trapped”
FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said first responders faced “dangerous and perilous” conditions and “have not stopped since they arrived this afternoon”
Aerial footage showed firefighters carefully clearing the debris by hand and throwing chunks of rubble aside. Rescue dogs were also brought in to search for survivors.
“This was a major technical response… multiple people from the building and the construction site were trapped,” FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said.
“[First responders] encountered dangerous and perilous conditions [and] have been working methodically and have not stopped since they arrived this afternoon.”
EXPLORE MORE: Who Was Susan Watford, the Mother of 3 Killed on a Cruise Ship?
Anderson Velez, who lived in the collapsed building, told the New York Post that he was at work when his wife called to say their two children, aged seven and two, were trapped beneath the rubble.
“She called me when the building collapsed while she was inside with rubble on top of her. She was screaming for someone to help get my son out and then the call cut off,” he told the outlet.
Velez later learned that his family had been pulled from the rubble and were alive.
The full number of injuries was still unknown, while the cause of the collapse remained under investigation, FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said.
The mixed-use building contained apartments above a business on the ground floor and stood beside a lot where a one-story structure had been demolished for a construction project, the Associated Press reported.
A construction worker embraces a child near the scene of the building collapse
The mixed-use building had apartments above a ground-floor business and stood on the edge of a lot where a one-story structure had been demolished for construction
First responders work at the scene after the building collapsed in Brooklyn
The site was being excavated before the collapse, and the fallen building sent wood and bricks across the construction area
A man was removed from the rubble at about 4.45pm and taken away on a stretcher, before two more people were found roughly two hours later
The site was undergoing excavation before the incident, and the collapsed building filled the construction area with wood and bricks.
New York State Representative Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn told NY1 that the lot had been vacant for years.
“That particular lot has been vacant for a long time. It used to be a senior, adult day care,” she said.
Plans had been made to build affordable housing, she said, adding: “We don’t know the details in terms of why the building collapsed but all I know is it’s probably been neglected.”
City records show that a contractor received a violation in April for work on the vacant lot next to the collapsed building.
The Department of Buildings cited a demolition contractor after inspectors found that the site had been demolished despite a city order to stop all demolition work, CBS News reported.
The violation is listed as resolved, but the record does not explain why the original stop-work order was issued.
Officials told the outlet that plans had been approved to build a three-story structure on the site.
A neighboring building that shared a wall with the collapsed structure remained standing, although sections of its walls were ripped away. The damage exposed rooms inside, including a bedroom and closets filled with clothes.
Rescuers found people trapped inside the adjacent building and “immediately took action and removed those people from danger”
The neighboring building remained standing but lost sections of its walls, exposing a bedroom and closets filled with clothing
Firefighters searched through the rubble by hand while rescue dogs helped look for survivors
Rescuers discovered people trapped in the adjacent building and “immediately took action and removed those people from danger,” Esposito said.
Earlier, the mayor said his office would release more information “as soon as we can confirm it.”
“As emergency operations continue, please join me in holding our neighbors and the members of this community in our hearts,” he wrote on X.
Governor Kathy Hochul said: “My heart breaks for the family who lost a loved one in today’s building collapse in Brooklyn. I’m keeping them in my thoughts and praying for everyone affected.”
“My administration has reached out and offered its full support as authorities investigate what happened,” she added.
