One missing after Vancouver rooftop parking lot collapses
VANCOUVER — Emergency crews went through debris with the help of a vacuum truck Friday at the site of a partial building collapse, searching for a person believed trapped beneath the rubble.
Trevor Connelly, assistant deputy chief of operations for Vancouver Fire Rescue Service, said efforts were focused on rescue as they looked for the missing person a day after a small loader fell through the rooftop parking lot into offices below.
Firefighters rescued eight people on Thursday night, including two with unspecified injuries, from an area of the building where escape was cut off when the collapse happened.
Connelly said a vacuum truck was brought in to suction away dirt that fell into the hole when the structure collapsed.
“It’s a very unstable, dangerous situation, painstaking work. Very physical, very tiring. The crews spent the night removing large chunks of concrete in order to get to the bottom of this collapse.”
Crews are “fairly confident” that a person is buried in the rubble based on eyewitness reports and the location of their cellphone. He said two search dogs were brought to the scene Friday and were able to identify areas where the person may be.
“We have attempted to try and make contact and we have not had any responses or any noises that indicate a location,” he said. The cause of the collapse has not yet been determined, Connelly said.
About two dozen rescue workers were at the scene Friday, including firefighters and members of Vancouver’s Heavy Urban Search and Rescue crew, a specialized team that responds to major structural collapses.
The SkyTrain service continued to run past the building. A view from the SkyTrain shows the large hole in the roof, with piles of debris below spilling out onto the building’s parking lot.
Three cars parked at the front building are covered in building material, crumpled siding and concrete.
Assistant Chief Brad Hesse said about six to eight crew members at a time are working in the collapse zone.
“We have not located the missing worker at this time, but we are making much better progress now that we have the vacuum truck in place to remove most of the loose dirt,” he said.
Earlier Friday, Hesse said the collapse occurred when a bobcat-style loader was moving one of two large piles of soil in the rooftop parking lot when the loader, the soil and a chunk of pavement approximately three metres by four metres fell into the offices below.