A Brooklyn building partially collapsed Wednesday afternoon on Bedford Avenue in Flatbush, leaving four people injured and sending crews into a major rescue operation. The collapse happened just after 4 p.m. between Newkirk and Flatbush avenues, where people were reported trapped inside.
The FDNY said a major technical rescue operation was underway as emergency crews worked the scene. Photos and video from the area appeared to show an entire side of the building gone, exposing stairwells and apartments behind it. Drivers were told to stay away, and officials said traffic delays and road closures should be expected.
The New York City Department of Buildings said the commissioner and investigators were on their way to the site to assess the damage. That review comes as city records show recent construction work at the address, although it is still unclear whether that work had anything to do with the collapse.
For now, the most important facts are the ones on the ground: four injuries, people reported trapped, and a block in Flatbush cut off while rescuers work through the wreckage. The cause remains unknown, and the question that matters next is whether investigators will find that the collapse began with the building itself or with something that had been happening there before Wednesday afternoon.
