2 likely in Iowa apartment collapse wreckage, more missing
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Five Iowa residents remain unaccounted for, including two people whose remains may be in a pile of rubble at the site of a partially collapsed apartment building, officials in the city of Davenport said Tuesday.
Mayor Mike Matson confirmed the numbers at a news conference following criticism that the city was moving too quickly toward demolishing the building, which partially collapsed Sunday afternoon. The 116-year-old brick and steel structure, built as a hotel, had more recently been used as apartments, and tenants had been allowed to remain even as bricks began falling from the building.
After the partial collapse, the city had announced plans to begin demolishing the building as early as Tuesday morning, but they delayed after a woman was found Monday evening.
Officials now say immediate demolition was never intended, but they did want to quickly stage the site for the tear-down. The woman’s rescue prompted officials to see if they could safely enter and ensure others weren’t inside, but that is extremely difficult when the building could collapse at any time, they said.
“This could be a place of rest for some of the unaccounted,” Matson said. The city is trying to determine how to bring down what remains of the building while maintaining the dignity of people who may have been killed, he said.
Fire Marshal James Morris said explosives will not be used on the building, which is near other structures.
A relative of one of the missing pleaded at the news conference for people to understand that authorities want to control the tear-down without dumping more material onto the rubble. “I plead with our community to let the city do their job,” the woman said.
The woman said her relative wouldn’t want any more lives put at risk.
The building is “unstable and continues to worsen,” Morris said. A structural engineer says searches should be avoided near the debris because more could collapse, and officials are considering that assessment before searching inside again.
Morris said removing the debris that is propping up the rest of the building could cause further collapse.
“We’re very sympathetic to the possibility that there’s two people” still left inside, Morris said as he fought back tears.
On Tuesday, protesters held signs saying “Find Them First” and “Who is in the Rubble?” Some used a megaphone to shout out names of residents. The building had 53 tenants in about 80 units, the police chief said.
City officials said rescue crews escorted 12 people from the building shortly after a middle section collapsed at about 5 p.m. Sunday, and rescued several others, including one person who was taken to safety overnight Sunday.
“There was a lot of screams, a lot of cries, a lot of people saying ‘Help!’ when the building came down,” Tadd Mashovec, a building resident, told KCCITV. “But that did not last, and two or three minutes, and then the whole area was silent.”
By Monday morning, Fire Chief Michael Carlsten said “no known individuals are trapped.”
The city then issued a statement saying that the owner was served Monday with a demolition order and the process would begin Tuesday morning.
The discovery of another survivor Monday evening, rescued by ladder truck from a fourthfloor window, prompted the city to reevaluate, they said. The woman was pulled to safety only after popping out a window screen and waving to people gathered below.