A Building Collapses on Neighboring Thrift Shop

                On Wednesday, June 6, a 4-story building collapsed onto the thrift shop adjacent to it on the street. The building had a permit to be demolished issued on February 1. All permits on the building were in order and there were no known violations. Griffin Campbell Construction, in charge of the take down had all the proper licenses. The collapse was an “industrial accident”; there are currently no known purposeful causes.

                People who lived in the area suspected that one day it would eventually collapse. Patrick Glynn is quoted from CNN, “....you could just see it was ready to go at any time. I knew it was going to happen....” There were many witnesses in the area who had felt the ground shaking as if it were an earthquake.

                The wall adjoining the neighboring Salvation Army Thrift Shop and the soon to be demolished building was reported to have been swaying back and forth and eventually had fallen. The construction workers were in the process of aiding the take down of the building, and it eventually fell onto the thrift shop. The wall took its toll and collapsed onto the store trapping many people and taking down parts of the thrift shop. Veronica Haynes was in on the 5th floor of the apartment building across the street. She is quoted from FoxNews, "Then you saw the whole side of the wall fall down ... onto the other building." There is a rigorous search team who are currently rummaging through out the remains for any signs of unacknowledged people. 
               New this morning, 6 people were found dead among the rubble. At least 14 people were pulled out of the debris with minor injuries. Many of the survivors were pulled out well after the building collapsed. Up to 12 hours after, a 61- year old woman was found and rescued. Rescuers do not know the number of people in the building during the time, so there is no certainty that no one else will be found. Although the area is swarming with firefighters working hard to find anyone possible. The names of the 6 found dead have not been issued in this morning’s news conference.

This is a Google Street-View image of the 4-story building before it started demolition.

This picture shows the aftermath of the collapsed building.

by Giselle Namata