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Emergency rescue crews worked urgently to sift through the debris of a three-story Brooklyn building that collapsed on Wednesday alongside a construction zone, leaving individuals trapped under the fallen structure.
First responders arrived in the Flatbush neighborhood of the borough at approximately 4 p.m. Aerial news footage showed scores of firefighters searching the pile, with several members focusing on a specific spot and appearing to use a power saw to cut into the debris.
Overhead video footage captured rescuers extracting at least one victim from the rubble and transporting them away on a stretcher.
The structure stood adjacent to a lot where a single-story building had previously been demolished to make way for a construction project. Ongoing excavation work at the site left an open pit, which was filled with wood and bricks when the neighboring building caved in.
An adjoining building that shared a wall with the collapsed structure stayed standing, though its outer partition was shorn off, revealing interior rooms, including a bedroom and closets filled with clothing.
An unmanned drone hovered above the scene while emergency responders cleared heavy rubble manually and deployed search dogs to locate survivors.
