At least two persons may be under rubble of collapsed building: Iowa officials

Authorities in Davenport, Iowa in the US said on Tuesday (May 30) that five people may be missing after the partial collapse of an apartment building on Sunday and that two of them may still be in the rubble. Although the authorities said on Monday that they were wrapping up rescue operations in order to start demolishing the building, discovery of a resident still in the building on Monday forced change in plans. They said that experts were being consulted to decide about rescue operation now.

On Tuesday, hundreds of people protested outside the building and insisted that there were still people under the rubble who needed to be rescued.

According to reports in the local media, a man even pushed through a police barricade on Tuesday, saying that he wanted to conduct his own search. He was escorted out of the cordoned-off zone.

The part of the six-story building located at 324 Main Stret collapsed at 5 pm on Sunday. Tonnes of debris fell, tearing down rows of apartments. The building was evacuated soon after that.

According to The Des Moines Register, a local news outlet, Fire Chief Michael Carlston said on Monday that “no known individuals are trapped." On Tuesday, city Fire Marshal James Morris said that rescuers believed they had carried out a thorough search.

“We had no indications from any of the responders that we had, any of the K9s, any of the tools at the time” that there was anyone else left alive in the building," Morris said, as quoted by The Des Moines Examiner.

Plans change

On Tuesday however, officials considered the possibility of at least two residents (Branden Colvin and Ryan Hitchcock) being under the rubble.

“This could be a place of rest for some of the unaccounted," said Mayor Mike Matson.

Engineers have warned that what remains of the building, the structure, is in precarious condition and that further search is dangerous. However, Morris said that the rescuers are looking at carrying out the search anyway.

"It is our goal to be able to conduct a search for additional occupants and any pets that still remain inside," he said. "We are currently working with technical rescue teams to determine the best options to provide an additional search."

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