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The FDNY says five bodies have now been recovered from the Brooklyn building collapse site where hundreds of firefighters continued a frantic search Thursday morning, more than 15 hours after terror struck a Flatbush construction site.

Firefighters worked through the night as part of a massive operation to comb through large and unstable piles of rubble in hopes of reaching any remaining survivors. First responders were moving carefully but quickly, racing against the clock as a looming afternoon threat of heavy rain could worsen search and rescue efforts.

“This has been an incredibly challenging and fast-moving situation, with precarious wreckage to navigate and dangerous voids beneath the surface,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at a Wednesday night press conference. “The numbers may change as the work continues.”

The collapse of the three-story building on Flatbush Avenue near Bedford Avenue occurred around 4 p.m. Wednesday. It was not known what caused or led up to the collapse in the Flatbush neighborhood.

The FDNY responded within a minute and said two people were removed from the rubble soon after the collapse. Arial footage showed dozens of firefighters scouring for other survivors in the debris well into the evening.

At least 17 people were injured, including four hospitalized in critical condition, the FDNY said at a Wednesday evening press conference. The others suffered less serious injuries. Seven children were among the victims, according to the FDNY, along with a firefighter who had minor injuries.

Three additional bodies were recovered early Thursday morning, adding to the initial two confirmed deaths reported by the fire department late Wednesday.

The fire department noted that the number of victims could increase, as it was not known how many people were in the building at the time of the collapse and if everyone had been accounted for. FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said the number could change “by the minute” as the operation, which is expected to take days, continues.

“This is such a very fragile situation here…We’ll continue to look until we find everybody. And we work in collaboration with NYPD to see if there’s any missing reports. We all work together to try to determine how many people are still to be found,” Bonsignore said, noting that victims included construction workers and those who were inside the building at the time.

The FDNY has not shared the ages or identities of the people killed, nor or if any children died.

A man told NBC New York his brother, Jose Luis Caguana, was killed in the collapse. The 26-year-old immigrant from Ecuador had been in the U.S. for about six years, his brother said, working construction to support his family. Caguana’s wife, who is pregnant and due very soon, was too distraught to speak with reporters on camera. The couple also have another young child.

“Her husband has passed away; he was the sole provider for the family. Now that he’s gone, she is going through an immense amount of pain. She is in a very bad state right now — she’s completely overwhelmed and can’t even find the words to speak,” Caguana’s brother, Carlos, told News 4 in Spanish.

The cousin of a construction worker who was hurt in the collapse but survived said his relative would have suffered much worse injuries had it not been for his hammer. The family member told NBC New York his cousin had left the excavation pit to grab his hammer and was walking back when he heard a loud snap and some debris fell on him.

The building that collapsed was a three-story building with a business on the ground floor and multiple apartments inside. It was located next to an excavation site where a one-story building had previously stood before being fully demolished in 2025.

The collapsed building filled the construction pit with bricks and wood.

The FDNY said there was work going on at the site at the time of the collapse. The crew was doing excavation work, the Department of Buildings said, with approved plans to build three-story building at the site. There were also plans for a nine-story building to be built, but the DOB said those plans had not yet been approved.

NBC New York was unable to reach the owner of the building that collapsed. The owner of the construction site, a limited liability company run by Robert Fischman and his associates, did not immediately respond to messages.

Another building that shared a wall with the collapsed structure remained standing, but its wall was shorn off, exposing the rooms inside, including a bedroom and closets filled with clothing. Concerns about a secondary collapse remained, leaving another obstacle for firefighters and officials to navigate.

The city’s Office of Emergency Management (NYCEM) advised people avoid the area, as traffic delays and road closures could be expected. Flatbush Avenue remained closed from Clarendon Road to Bedford Avenue through the night.

The DOB said inspectors were at the scene to assist with recovery operations and to conduct structural stability inspections of surrounding buildings.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on social media “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.”

The American Red Cross said they had a team at the scene working with residents impacted by the collapse. The Red Cross and NYCEM opened a reception center at the Flatbush YMCA for any impacted or displaced residents, Mamdani said. As of 11 p.m., the Red Cross said six households, comprised of 11 adults and two children, had registered for emergency assistance.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.