Relatives of mall victims denounce rescue effort in wake of collapse
ELLIOT LAKE, Ont. — Relatives of the two women killed in the collapse of a northern Ontario mall lashed out Wednesday at the rescue effort they said failed to save at least one of them.
In emotional testimony, they described how they heard rescuers had detected signs of life in the rubble, only to call off the search because it was too dangerous.
“They basically said it was over and the only way to get my mother’s body out was to demolish the mall,” a sobbing Teresa Perizzolo said.
“As far as we’re concerned, one was still alive, so they wanted to kill them, and then take them out.”
Perizzolo, daughter of Doloris Perizzolo, and her husband, Darrin Latulippe, described hours and days of agonized waiting for any news of her fate after the Algo Centre Mall’s rooftop garage caved in last summer.
They received little official information, Latulippe told the inquiry into the tragedy, getting most of their news from the radio.
It was Insp. Bill Neadles, who headed up the rescue effort, who abruptly told Perizzolo the search for her mother was done.
“The sad part is when you look at places like Bangladesh, where a building collapses, 17 days later they pulled people out who were still alive,” Latulippe said.
“This is Canada. This is not a Third World nation. This is to the point of stupidity.”
Perizzolo has nightmares in which she calls out, “Mom, I’m going to get you out,” Latulippe testified.
It took four days to recover the bodies of Perizzolo, 74, and Lucie Aylwin, 37.
“They told us they were leaving because it wasn’t safe,” said Aylwin’s father, Réjean Aylwin.
“My daughter is there. You cannot stop. So, I left screaming,” his wife Rachelle Aylwin testified.
She also slammed those who had allowed the mall to deteriorate to the point at which it collapsed.
“I will never forgive them.”