Brooklyn apartment building collapses, killing eight people

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 13 Nov, 20:32 · Archive

A three-storey apartment building in Brooklyn collapsed, killing eight people including two children, as workers dug at an adjacent construction site.

A three-storey apartment building in Brooklyn collapsed on Wednesday, killing eight people. Among the dead were two children, ages 9 and 10. Another 18 people were injured, including four firefighters. New York officials, from building inspectors to prosecutors, say they are investigating what caused the building to collapse as workers were digging at an adjacent construction site.

Survivors recounted their experiences during a news conference on Friday. One man's pregnant wife was pulled alive from the rubble, while two of his roommates perished. A woman living in an adjacent building, whose apartment shared a wall with the collapsed structure, woke from a nap to find bright daylight flooding her bedroom as her apartment wall had been ripped away. Ciahola Lawrence, a resident of the partially collapsed building next door, said: 'As they're taking me, evacuating me from the building, I could see my neighbors coming out on stretchers.' She added: 'We didn't deserve this.' Those who lost family, neighbours and their homes demanded answers about what caused the catastrophe.

Mamadou Mouctar Balde had stepped out to buy groceries before the collapse, leaving his pregnant wife and two roommates, 31-year-old Mamadou N'Diaye and 23-year-old Mamadou Barry, at home. Barry was cooking and N'Diaye was sleeping on the couch when he left. When Balde returned, he found firefighters, police and neighbours gathering outside.

How it is being reported

• Survivors of the deadly Brooklyn building collapse recall shock, terror and griefSurvivors of a Brooklyn apartment building collapse are desperate to know what caused the catastrophe that killed relatives and neighbors and destroyed their homes.News4Jax · 13 Nov, 20:07
• Survivors of the deadly Brooklyn building collapse recall shock, terror and griefSurvivors of a Brooklyn apartment building collapse are desperate to know what caused the catastrophe that killed relatives and neighbors and destroyed their homes.Clickorlando · 13 Nov, 20:07

In this story: Brooklyn · New York · Ciahola Lawrence · James Alexander Williams · Mamadou Mouctar Balde · Mamadou N'Diaye · Mamadou Barry

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