A man broke down in tears after learning that his pregnant wife had been rescued alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in New York City.
The unidentified man embraced NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams as he wept with relief over the safe recovery of his wife, who is six months pregnant, following the building collapse in Brooklyn.
‘I have an update. She is alive, she is still alive. I am very happy,’ he said, according to ABC News.
When news of the collapse broke shortly after 4pm on Wednesday, the man ran down Flatbush Avenue desperately searching for his wife.
According to the outlet, he initially tried to push past emergency responders to reach her before being escorted away from the danger zone.
As the rescue operation continued into the evening, he repeatedly pleaded with officials for news while darkness descended over the site.
‘I’ve heard nothing. She’s inside the building. She’s pregnant,’ he told reporters and police.
Footage showed a man being pulled from the debris at about 4.45pm and carried away on a stretcher.
The man embraced NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams as he cried with relief after his six-months-pregnant wife was rescued alive from the Flatbush building collapse
Drone footage showed a woman, later identified as his wife, being carried alive from the collapse site on a stretcher at about 6.30pm with a blue blanket covering her
After the building collapse was reported shortly after 4pm on Wednesday, the man ran along Flatbush Avenue looking for his wife
The emotional reunion offered one of the day’s few moments of relief in Brooklyn, where NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed that two people had died in the collapse
Then, at around 6.30pm, the desperate husband finally received word that his wife had been pulled from beneath the wreckage.
Drone footage showed a woman, later identified as his wife, being lifted onto a stretcher with a blue blanket covering her stomach.
She was taken to hospital by ambulance. After learning she had survived, he told the outlet: ‘I’m very happy. I want to thank all of you guys.’
The emotional moment was one of the few hopeful developments in a tragic day in Brooklyn. NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed that two people had died in the collapse.
Officials said another 17 people were injured, including seven children and one firefighter. The injuries ranged from critical to non-life-threatening.
The three-story residential building collapsed into an open construction site shortly after 4pm, trapping several people beneath the rubble, including workers who were at the site when the structure fell, the FDNY said.
Mamdani described the incident as ‘devastating,’ adding: ‘This has been an incredibly challenging and fast-moving situation, with precarious wreckage to navigate and dangerous voids beneath the surface.’
More than 250 firefighters and emergency personnel responded and ‘worked tirelessly to secure the scene and rescue those who were trapped,’ the mayor said.
Officials said 17 other people were injured, including seven children and one firefighter, with injuries ranging from critical to non-life-threatening
The three-story residential building collapsed into an open construction site shortly after 4pm, trapping several people, including construction workers, beneath the debris
More than 250 firefighters and emergency personnel arrived at the scene and ‘worked tirelessly to secure the scene and rescue those who were trapped’
FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said first responders faced ‘dangerous and perilous’ conditions and ‘have not stopped since they arrived this afternoon’
Drone footage showed firefighters searching through the wreckage by hand and throwing pieces of rubble aside. Rescue teams also brought in dogs to search for survivors.
‘This was a major technical response…multiple people from the building and the construction site were trapped,’ FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said.
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‘[First responders] encountered dangerous and perilous conditions [and] have been working methodically and have not stopped since they arrived this afternoon.’
Anderson Velez, who lived in the collapsed building, told the New York Post that he was at work when his wife called to say their two children, aged seven and two, were trapped beneath the rubble.
‘She called me when the building collapsed while she was inside with rubble on top of her. She was screaming for someone to help get my son out and then the call cut off,’ he told the outlet.
Velez later learned that his family had been rescued from the rubble and were alive.
The full number of injuries was still unknown, while the cause of the collapse remained under investigation, FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said.
The building was a mixed-use structure, with apartments above a ground-floor business. It stood beside a lot where a separate one-story building had been demolished for a construction project, the Associated Press reported.
A construction worker embraces a child at the scene of the Brooklyn building collapse
The mixed-use building, with apartments above a ground-floor business, stood beside a lot where a one-story structure had been demolished for a construction project
First responders work at the scene after the Brooklyn building collapsed
The site was being excavated before the collapse, and the fallen building left the construction area filled with wood and bricks
A man was pulled from the rubble at about 4.45pm and taken away on a stretcher, with two more people found roughly two hours later
The site had been undergoing excavation before the incident, and the collapsed building sent wood and bricks spilling into the construction area.
New York State Representative Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn told NY1: ‘That particular lot has been vacant for a long time. It used to be a senior, adult day care.’
‘They were waiting for a permit to build affordable housing,’ she continued. ‘We don’t know the details in terms of why the building collapsed but all I know is it’s probably been neglected.’
City records show that a contractor received a violation in April over work on the vacant lot next to the collapsed building.
The Buildings Department cited a demolition contractor after inspectors said the site had been demolished despite a city order to stop all demolition work, CBS News reported.
The violation is recorded as resolved, but it does not explain why the city initially ordered the work to stop.
Officials told the outlet that plans had been approved for a three-story building on the site.
A neighboring building that shared a wall with the collapsed structure remained standing, although sections of its walls had been ripped away. The damage exposed rooms inside, including a bedroom and closets packed with clothes.
Rescuers found people trapped in the adjacent building and ‘immediately took action and removed those people from danger’
The neighboring building remained standing after sharing a wall with the collapsed structure, but missing sections exposed a bedroom and closets filled with clothing
Firefighters searched the debris by hand while rescue dogs worked to detect possible survivors
Rescuers discovered people trapped inside the adjacent building and ‘immediately took action and removed those people from danger,’ Esposito said.
The mayor said earlier that his office would release further information ‘as soon as we can confirm it.’
‘As emergency operations continue, please join me in holding our neighbors and the members of this community in our hearts,’ he wrote on X.
Governor Kathy Hochul said: ‘My heart breaks for the family who lost a loved one in today’s building collapse in Brooklyn. I’m keeping them in my thoughts and praying for everyone affected.’
‘My administration has reached out and offered its full support as authorities investigate what happened,’ she added.
