New York City building collapses after 'explosion' with multiple people trapped

Multiple people are trapped inside a building in Brooklyn after it partially collapsed, according to emergency officials.

Emergency crews raced to the scene of the three-storey building in the largely residential area of Flatbush shortly after 4pm on Wednesday.

At least one person has been confirmed dead, while six others have been taken to hospital with injuries. People remain trapped beneath the rubble, prompting a complex and ongoing technical rescue operation, the fire department said.

News helicopter footage showed dozens of firefighters scouring the debris, with a group homing in on one area and appearing to use a saw to cut through the wreckage.

"FDNY units are currently operating at a building collapse on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn," the department said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

"Our units arrived to a heavy structural collapse with active reports of individuals entrapped. This is a delicate and high-risk technical rescue operation," an FDNY spokesperson said at the scene.

The aerial videos showed firefighters digging at least one person out of the rubble and removing them on a stretcher.

One man desperately tried to push through emergency responders to get to his wife, who he said is pregnant and inside the building.

"She's inside the building. She's pregnant," he told reporters.

Police tried to move bystanders away from the scene as cordon tape was established. Among the bystanders was the distraught man, who continued to try and push through to the scene.

Footage posted on social media showed a woman, said to be six months pregnant, who had been rescued. She was being pushed on a stretcher as the lights of ambulances flashed franticly and emergency personnel yelled, "Back up! Back up!"

It is unclear whether the woman rescued is the man's wife.

The cause of the collapse remains under investigation, but early reports and footage from the scene suggest the affected building was under construction, leaving upper-level rooms and interior framework exposed down to the lower floors.

The building that collapsed had been perched at the edge of a lot where another one-story building had been torn down for a construction project. The site was being excavated, and the building that fell down filled the construction pit with bricks and wood.

Another building that shared a wall with the collapsed structure remained standing, but its wall was shorn off, exposing the rooms inside, including a bedroom and closets filled with clothing.

Several local witnesses described the terrifying scenes as the structure gave way.

"It sounded like a massive explosion or a heavy truck crashing, and within seconds the entire street was choked with a thick cloud of dust," Marcus Vance told La Voce di New York.

The Express has approached the FDNY for comment.

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