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

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Multiple people are reportedly trapped after a three-storey building partially collapsed in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, with FDNY crews launching a major rescue operation on…

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.

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.

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