Pregnant woman rescued from collapsed Brooklyn building

Summarised from 3 outlets · 6 reports · Updated 14 Nov, 01:44 · Archive

A pregnant woman six months along was pulled alive from a three-storey building that collapsed in Brooklyn, New York on Wednesday.

A three-storey building collapsed in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn at around 4pm on Wednesday, 11 November. The building was located at the edge of a construction site where an adjacent building had been demolished. It was under construction at the time of the collapse, leaving upper-level rooms and interior framework exposed down to the lower floors.

Emergency responders arrived at the scene and launched a technical rescue operation. After two and a half hours, a woman six months pregnant was pulled from the rubble and transported on a stretcher to hospital. Her husband, identified as Mamadou Mouctar Balde, told reporters she and the baby are in good condition.

Balde said he had left the building five minutes before the collapse to get groceries. When he returned, he found emergency services at the scene. He told a press conference: "I hadn't seen my wife. I hadn't seen my neighbors. I didn't know where I was anymore." The woman, Fatoumata Binta Bah, 33, was named by a city councilman's office as the rescued woman.

The collapse claimed eight lives, according to Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Among the dead were at least two of the couple's male roommates from Guinea. At least 19 people were injured in total, including three firefighters.

One of the victims killed was identified as Jose Luis Caguana, 26, a construction worker and Ecuadorian migrant who had been living in the US for six years. According to his wife, Nataly Magaly Llumitasig, he was expecting the birth of their second child early the following week and was very excited about it. She said she has not yet told their four-year-old son that his father has died.

How it is being reported

• NYC woman set to give birth next week lost hubby in Brooklyn building collapse: ‘He was so excited’“He was so excited about the baby. He would say, ‘Oh my God, my baby is coming,’” Llumitasag said.New York Post · 13 Nov, 20:08
• Hubby of miracle pregnant woman hauled from Brooklyn building collapse hauntingly recalls horror that killed roommatesThe stricken man’s wife became a face of the tragedy when the gripping photo of her on a stretcher emerged after the building collapsed around 4 p.m. Wednesday.New York Post · 13 Nov, 19:38
• Dad with heavily pregnant wife ID’d as victim in devastating Brooklyn building collapseA dad with a heavily pregnant wife was killed in Wednesday’s horrific building collapse in Brooklyn, his heartbroken brother revealed. Jose Luis Caguana, 26, was among the eight victims who died when the 1930-era walk-up crumbled at the edge of a construction site in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn at about 4 p.m. Wednesday. Construction...New York Post · 12 Nov, 13:27
• Overwhelmed husband breaks down as pregnant wife rescued from collapsed NYC buildingAn anxious Brooklyn husband broke down in tears of relief after learning his pregnant wife was miraculously rescued from the rubble of a building collapse which has left at least six people dead.New York Post · 12 Nov, 12:35
• Incredible moment husband breaks down in tears as pregnant wife emerges from the rubble of collapsed Brooklyn building: 'She's alive'A man was seen embracing a stranger as he wept over the safe recovery of his wife, who is six months pregnant, after a building collapsed in Brooklyn.Daily Mail · 12 Nov, 06:11
• Miracle in New York City as pregnant woman pulled from rubble of collapsed Brooklyn buildingA man desperately tried to push through emergency responders to get to his wife. "I'm very happy, I'm very happy," he said after the woman was rescued.The Mirror · 12 Nov, 01:06

In this story: Brooklyn · Flatbush · Mamadou Mouctar Balde · Fatoumata Binta Bah · Jose Luis Caguana · Nataly Magaly Llumitasig · New York City

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log