SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
Emergency workers are still searching for survivors after a three-story apartment building collapsed yesterday in Brooklyn, New York. Eight people died and many more were injured when the building crumbled into a neighboring construction site. Reporter Steve Kastenbaum has been out to see that collapsed building, and he joins us now from Brooklyn. Hi, Steve.
STEVE KASTENBAUM, BYLINE: Hi. Thanks for having me.
PFEIFFER: I understand you got some updates from city officials about the victims. What do we know about them?
KASTENBAUM: Well, some of the people who died were inside this nearly century-old building in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. It's right in the center of the borough. Two of them were children, a 9-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, he met with some of the families of the victims earlier today.
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ZOHRAN MAMDANI: Six of those New Yorkers passed away on the scene. Two others died at nearby hospitals. As of now, we have confirmed that two of those who died were construction workers at 2625 Bedford Avenue.
KASTENBAUM: Eighteen other people were injured in that collapse, including four firefighters who were quick to respond. At least one of the people taken to hospitals in the area is still listed in critical condition.
PFEIFFER: I heard Mayor Mamdani talking earlier today about the rapid response from the fire department. Is that being credited with saving lives?
KASTENBAUM: It is. The first fire truck got there one minute after the 911 calls started coming in. We were told that firefighters immediately jumped into the rubble and worked to free trapped people, even though there was the danger of a further collapse. Mayor Mamdani said they got some help from people who were lucky to have survived the collapse.
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MAMDANI: Construction workers who would only barely survived themselves turned back and dug victims out of the rubble. People are alive today because of their heroism yesterday.
PFEIFFER: Steve, what is the status of the rescue operation?
KASTENBAUM: Well, this afternoon, New York City's fire commissioner, Lillian Bonsignore, said they would continue searching through the rubble until they were absolutely certain that no one was left. The effort was complicated today, though, by a thunderstorm and heavy rain that's been falling here throughout most of the day.
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LILLIAN BONSIGNORE: To be clear, we have not shifted from rescue to recovery. We are still in the search-and-rescue phase. We have moved into a general debris removal.
KASTENBAUM: And that process has involved bringing in some heavy equipment to remove large pieces of debris, but they have to be really careful not to cause any further collapse from the buildings on the sides of this construction site.
PFEIFFER: And why the building collapsed in the first place is obviously a key question - any insight into that?
KASTENBAUM: Yeah. It's still early on in this investigation. Building inspectors are collecting evidence at the site. They are looking at past inspections. There were some stop work orders that they're looking at. Did they follow the designs that were required to shore up the buildings next door? All of that stuff is being looked at right now, and they're looking at other construction sites as well that these developers and builders are connected to across the city, 100 in all. They're taking a really close look at those sites to make sure that everything is the way it should be.
PFEIFFER: That's reporter Steve Kastenbaum in Brooklyn, New York. Thank you.
KASTENBAUM: My pleasure.
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