At least two dead while others are trapped in the rubble after a building collapse in New York City

Some 250 firefighters and police officers tackled the rubble with pickaxes and saws to pull people covered in dust from beneath piles of twisted wood and brick.

New York City Fire Department officials stated that search and rescue operations would continue into the night, even as it remains unclear whether people might still be trapped.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani described the situation as 'incredibly challenging and fast-moving' with 'precarious wreckage to navigate and dangerous voids beneath the surface'.

New York City’s Buildings Commissioner, Ahmed Tigani, said the building fell when construction workers were digging an empty lot next door for a new building.

The collapsed building, which housed apartments above ground-level businesses, was reduced to a massive mound of debris at the bottom of the construction pit.

The neighbouring structure, which shared a wall with the building, was left standing but suffered extensive damage, with much of its exterior wall ripped away.

Search and rescue operations

One of the survivors was a woman who was pulled from the rubble by firefighters late in the afternoon after a hole had been dug through the debris.

More people continued to be pulled from the rubble as operations proceeded, including seven children, although officials did not specify whether any of them were among the dead.

The rescue teams were digging by hand and using drones to carry out operations, with one firefighter left with minor injuries.

Anderson Velez, a resident of the collapsed building, recounted that his wife called him while the building collapsed, saying their two children were trapped.

Velez later found out that his family had been rescued from the rubble alive.