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Brooklyn D.A. Opens Criminal Inquiry Into Flatbush Building Collapse

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The collapse killed at least eight people and left 18 others injured. As rescue efforts continued, the cause remained under investigation.

Floodlights illuminate an excavation site filled with dirt, rubble and heavy machinery, next to an exposed, damaged building at night.

Nov. 13, 2026Updated 10:02 a.m. ET

The Brooklyn district attorney’s office has opened a criminal investigation into the building collapse in Flatbush on Wednesday that left eight people dead, including two children, the authorities said.

The inquiry was in its earliest stages on Thursday: It was initially delayed as search and rescue teams scoured the rubble of the collapsed three-story building in the pouring rain.

The Brooklyn prosecutors were conducting the criminal inquiry with the city’s Department of Investigation and Department of Buildings, officials said.

The district attorney, Eric Gonzalez, announced the inquiry in a statement on Wednesday night, hours after the collapse.

“We are working closely with the Department of Buildings and our law enforcement partners to determine whether any criminal conduct contributed to this tragedy,” Mr. Gonzalez said in the statement.

The collapse of the building, at 1321 Flatbush Avenue, occurred at around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, when the structure — which was described in city records as containing four apartments and commercial space on the ground floor — caved into a hole apparently created by a construction site next door. The Fire Department arrived within a minute, officials said, and hundreds of emergency responders began scouring the site.

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