Death toll rises in Brooklyn building collapse as rescuers dig through rubble

NEW YORK: Firefighters early Thursday removed the bodies of four more people who died after a three-story building in Brooklyn collapsed at the edge of a construction site, bringing the death toll to six, and they kept digging through the rubble to find others who may be trapped beneath the wreckage.

At least 17 people were hospitalized with injuries, including four in critical condition after the building came down Wednesday afternoon. The New York City Fire Department confirmed the additional deaths, and the other two deaths were announced Wednesday.

Scores of firefighters and police officers wielding pickaxes and power saws clambered over the rubble pile overnight, punching holes through the ruins to pull dust-covered people from beneath piles of twisted wood and brick.