Incredible moment husband breaks down in tears as pregnant wife emerges from the rubble

A man was seen breaking down in tears as his pregnant wife was found alive when she was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed New York City building.

The unidentified man was seen embracing NYC public advocate Jumaane Williams as he wept over the safe recovery of his wife, who is six months pregnant, after a building collapsed in Brooklyn. 

‘I have an update. She is alive, she is still alive. I am very happy,’ he said, ABC News reported. 

After the horrifying news of the building collapse broke just after 4pm on Wednesday, the man sprinted down Flatbush Avenue in search of his wife. 

According to the outlet, he had tried to get past emergency responders to reach his wife before he was moved to safety. 

Rescue efforts continued into the evening, as darkness fell the man continued pleading for information on his wife.

‘I’ve heard nothing. She’s inside the building. She’s pregnant,’ he told reporters and police. 

A man was pulled from the rubble at around 4.45pm and carried away on a stretcher, footage showed. 

The man was seen embracing Jumaane Williams, an NYC public advocate, as he wept over the safe recovery of his wife, who is six months pregnant, after a building collapsed in Flatbush

Drone footage saw a woman, later discovered to be his wife, being pulled alive on a stretcher from the collapse site at around 6.30pm with a blue blanket draped over her

After news broke that the building collapsed at around 4pm on Wednesday, the man had sprinted down Flatbush Avenue in search of his wife

The emotional scene was one of the happier endings to a tragic day in Brooklyn, as two people were confirmed by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani to have died from the collapse

Then, at around 6.30pm, the desperate husband finally got word that his wife had been rescued from under the debris. 

Drone footage saw a woman, later discovered to be his wife, being pulled on a stretcher from the collapse site with a blue blanket draped over her stomach. 

She was taken by ambulance to the hospital and as he learned that she was alive, he told the outlet: ‘I’m very happy. I want to thank all of you guys.’

The emotional scene was one of the happier endings to a tragic day in Brooklyn, as two people were confirmed by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani to have died from the collapse. 

Another 17 people were reportedly injured, including seven children and one firefighter, with both critical and non-life-threatening injuries, officials announced. 

The three-story residential structure crumbled into an open construction site just after 4pm leaving multiple people stuck under the rubble, including workers who were on site when the building collapsed, the FDNY said. 

Mamdani, who described the incident as ‘devastating,’ said: ‘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 arrived and ‘worked tirelessly to secure the scene and rescue those who were trapped,’ the mayor added. 

Another 17 people were reportedly injured, including seven children and one firefighter, with both critical and non-life-threatening injuries, officials announced

The three-story residential structure crumbled into an open construction site just after 4pm leaving multiple people stuck under the rubble, including workers who were on site when the building collapsed

More than 250 firefighters and emergency personnel arrived on scene and ‘worked tirelessly to secure the scene and rescue those who were trapped’

FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said that first responders encountered ‘dangerous and perilous’ and ‘have not stopped since they arrived this afternoon’

Drone footage over the site saw firefighters digging through the debris by hand, tossing chunks of rubble aside. Rescuers also used dogs to sniff for survivors.

‘This was a major technical response…multiple people from the building and the construction site were trapped,’ FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said. 

‘[First responders] encountered dangerous and perilous conditions [and] have been working methodically and have not stopped since they arrived this afternoon.’

Anderson Velez, a resident of the collapsed building, told the New York Post that he was at work when his wife called, saying his two children – aged 7 and 2 – were trapped under 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. 

He later learned that his family had been pulled from the rubble and were alive, Velez said.  

The total number of injuries remains unknown and the cause of the incident remains under investigation, FDNY’s Chief of Department John Esposito added. 

The building, a mixed-use structure with apartments atop a business on the ground floor, was perched on the edge of a lot where another one-story building had been torn down for a construction project, AP reported. 

A construction worker embraces a child at the scene of the building collapse

The building, a mixed-use structure with apartments atop a business on the ground floor, was perched on the edge of a lot where another one-story building had been torn down for a construction project

First responders work the scene after a building collapsed in Brooklyn

Before the incident, the site was being excavated, and the building that fell filled the construction site with wood and bricks

A man was pulled from the rubble at around 4.45pm and carried away on a stretcher before two others were found around two hours later

Before the incident, the site was being excavated, and the building that fell filled the construction site with wood and bricks. 

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.’ 

A contractor had been handed a violation in April over activity on the vacant lot adjacent to the collapsed building, according to city records. 

The buildings department had issued a violation to a demolition contractor in April because inspectors said the site had been demolished despite a city order to halt all demolition work, CBS News reported. 

The violation is listed as resolved and does not detail why the city issued an order to originally stop work. 

Officials told the outlet that plans were approved for the construction of a three-story building on the site. 

A separate building that shared a wall with the one that fell remained standing, but some of its walls were torn off, exposing the rooms inside, including a bedroom and closets filled with clothing.

Rescuers found others trapped in the adjacent building next to the collapse and ‘immediately took action and removed those people from danger’

A separate building that shared a wall with the one that fell remained standing, but some of its walls were torn off, exposing the rooms inside, including a bedroom and closets filled with clothing

Drone footage over the site saw firefighters digging through the debris by hand, tossing chunks of rubble aside. Rescuers also used dogs to sniff for survivors

Rescuers found others trapped in the adjacent building next to the collapse and ‘immediately took action and removed those people from danger,’ Esposito added.  

The mayor earlier said that his office would share 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. 

Meanwhile, 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.