Newly released video from inside a Flatbush apartment shows the terrifying seconds before a three-story Brooklyn building caved in on Wednesday, killing eight people and injuring nearly 20 others, including three firefighters.
The footage was recorded inside the third-floor unit of resident Anderson Velez. It shows a living room wall beginning to crumble as his 9-year-old son holds a baby bottle and pulls a gallon of milk from the refrigerator, with a 2-year-old playing nearby. Moments later, Velez’s wife bursts through a doorway screaming, and the boy runs toward her as the walls break apart around them.
“I am still in shock. The truth is, I’m trying to be strong for my son, but I feel terrible.”
Rescue crews spent hours sifting through rubble before confirming the eight fatalities. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on X that he was “heartbroken that eight New Yorkers have now lost their lives and at least 17 have been injured, including three firefighters.”
“There are no words for a loss of this magnitude. My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we have lost, those who are injured and everyone grieving today.”
Attention has also turned to the owner of a neighboring property, who is facing scrutiny over past construction violations, including a contractor’s decision to ignore a city stop-work order in March.
New York City Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani confirmed that excavation work was underway at the adjacent site on Bedford Avenue at the time of the collapse.
“The type of work they were conducting was excavation work on that job site. And so, that was what they were working on today.”
Tigani said the adjacent site’s approvals do not match what is being planned there. “They have a plan approved for a three-story building, but they have current plans looking for a nine-story building, which has not yet been approved for,” he said. “At this point, all we have at this time is excavation work in that section of the construction site.”
