Man rescued after being trapped at Brooklyn construction site

Members of the FDNY rescued a man who became trapped in the basement of a building that collapsed in Brooklyn.

It happened at about 12:30 p.m. on Rutland Road.  The floor joist collapsed and dropped him from the first floor to the basement.

Rescue workers braced the rest of the building to support it as they removed debris by hand to get to the man.   He waws trapped under a beam.  Fire fighters had to cut the beam.

The man was conscious the entire time and was able to communicate with rescue workers.  He was trapped for about 90 minutes before he was pulled out.

The man, who was not identified, was taken to Kings County Hospital in critical condition but he was not believed to have life-threatening injuries.

Officials initially said the man was a construction worker but later determined that he was a scavenger who was looking for things to collect in the crumbling building.