Brooklyn collapse rescue ‘very reminiscent’ of WTC search — with chunks of neighboring building likely to fall: FDNY

The harrowing search through the rubble of a collapsed Brooklyn apartment building is “very reminiscent” of the World Trade Center horror, an FDNY chief said Thursday — while warning that chunks of neighboring buildings are still expected to fall.

At least eight people are dead and 17 wounded after a three-story building fell into an open excavation in Flatbush on Wednesday, with officials warning it could take at least three days to go through the rubble.

A victim is removed from the scene of a building collapse at 1321 Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. James Keivom for NY Post
New York City firefighters search for victims in the rubble of a collapsed Brooklyn building on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. AFP via Getty Images

“It becomes a very complex, time-consuming search where [we’re] crawling in and around the collapse, looking for void spaces, searching those void spaces,” John Esposito, Chief of Department for the FDNY, told FOX 5 early Thursday.

“To me, it’s very reminiscent of the searches we were doing at the Trade Center,” he added.

New York City Fire Department members and first responders work at a building collapse scene in Brooklyn on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. AFP via Getty Images
Firefighters search the rubble of a collapsed building in Brooklyn, on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. James Keivom for NY Post

The operation could last at least three days, Esposito said — with neighboring buildings also at risk.

However, the FDNY is “confident” no other buildings will collapse, even though “pieces” of an adjoining building are expected to fall, adding to the danger of the mission.

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