Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
One dead, two missing after hotel collapse in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS — A large section of a Hard Rock Hotel under construction beside New Orleans’ historic French Quarter collapsed Saturday, killing one person and injuring more than 20.
Rescue workers headed into what was left of the largely unstable building seeking two people still unaccounted for.
Nearby buildings were evacuated. A 270-foot construction crane — one of two still looming over the multistory building — also was dangerously unstable, fire officials said. A search for the missing was suspended at nightfall over safety concerns.
A statement from the project contractor said its representatives would work “throughout the night” with emergency officials on a plan to stabilize the building.
“I heard a huge noise and thought it was a plane crashing,” said Sue Hurley, a 68-year-old guest at a hostel across the street that shuddered with the force of the collapse. Hurley said she was reminded of news accounts of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
WWL-TV aired and tweeted a viewer’s dramatic video of upper floors falling on top of one another before one side of the building crashed to the street.
Another video on social media showed what looked like a metal structure — part of the building or a piece of construction equipment — tumbling to the ground and people running from the scene as clouds of dust billowed up, obscuring the view like a thick fog.
Officials said 18 people were taken to the hospital and several others went to the hospital on their own. They said none of their injuries was believed to be life threatening.
Urban search and rescue teams entered a section of the building Saturday in hopes of finding the two missing people alive, said Fire Chief Tim McConnell. He said authorities believe they know their approximate location based on talks with other survivors.
One of the two was believed to be in a relatively stable part of the building; the other was thought to be in a less stable area.