2 killed as New Orleans hotel partially collapses
One person is missing and more than 20 hurt at construction site near French Quarter.
NEW ORLEANS — A large section of a Hard Rock Hotel under construction at the edge of New Orleans’ historic French Quarter collapsed Saturday, killing two people and injuring more than 20 as rescue workers rushed into what was left of the unstable building to search for one person still missing.
Nearby buildings were evacuated, and a 270-foot construction crane looming over the building also was dangerously unstable, fire officials said.
“I heard a huge noise and thought it was a plane crashing,” said Sue Hurley, 68, a guest at a hostel across the street that shuddered with the force of the explosion.
WWL-TV aired a viewer’s video of the collapse, showing upper floors falling on top of one another before one side of the building crashed to the ground.
A 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 as clouds of dust billowed up, obscuring the view like a thick fog.
“I’m not sure what happened, but they told us to get out of here,” said Michael Arbeiter, 30, from Munich, Germany, a hostel guest who said he was just getting out of the shower when his room shook. “Thank God it was not another 9/11.”
Officials said 18 people were taken to the hospital and several others went 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 missing people alive, Fire Chief Tim McConnell said.
Meanwhile, authorities were monitoring an unstable construction crane looming over the building.
“There is a very strong possibility of further collapse of this crane right now,” McConnell said.
Citadel Builders LLC, the contractor on the project, said more than 100 workers were on site at the time of the collapse. An email from spokesman Brian Trascher said company officials were working with emergency workers on a plan to stabilize the building.
The site is at the corner of Rampart Street and Canal Street, a busy intersection just outside the Quarter.
Hard Rock International issued a statement Saturday expressing sympathy for victims and their families. The statement said the company had a licensing agreement with the building’s owner, Kailas Cos., and Hard Rock had no involvement in the construction.
Citadel issued a statement expressing its condolences for the deaths and injuries. It did not comment on a possible cause of the collapse.
Kailas did not respond to messages seeking comment Saturday night.