1 Dead, 30 Now Feared Missing in Mall Collapse
CBC – 1 hour 9 minutes ago
- The collapsed roof of the Algo Centre Mall is seen from a nearby hill in Elliot Lake, Ont. on Sunday June 24, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Terry Row
(More Photos below)
Rescuers are slowly edging closer to a person they say is still alive under the rubble of a mall collapse in Northern Ontario as officials confirm one person is dead and at least 30 others are unaccounted for in the cave-in that occurred over the weekend.
"They are 20 to 30 metres close to the person who is alive," said CBC reporter Natalie Kalata. "Every step takes time as each step has to be approved by an engineer."
Kalata said rescuers are hoping to get to the person late tonight, or early tomorrow morning. They had used a machine, much like an X-ray, to verify if they could hear anyone breathing.
"No one from the inside has been transported out either," said Kalata
Kalata added that the mall's structure is even more dangerous now, two days after the cave-in. Engineers say they fear other parts of the mall may collapse as well.
The latest number of missing, reported by the Ontario Provincial Police, is surprising considering authorities on Sunday had said they were trying to locate nine people after the roof collapsed at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake .
Police said on Sunday they had a "visual" of a foot and a hand but did not verify a death until Monday.
Prior to Sunday, officials had put the number of people missing at more than 30 when the the roof collapsed on Saturday afternoon. There was some confusion over whether a body had been spotted in the rubble.
Meanwhile, bystanders are keeping vigil outside the mall as they await word from rescue officials.
When the roof gave way, metal and concrete debris crashed through two floors of the shopping centre.
A source who has been briefed on the recovery effort said Monday morning that rescuers believe some people could be alive inside the mall's wreckage.
"The truth is no one has a handle on how bad it could be," said the source, who requested anonymity because they have not been authorized to speak publicly.
In an interview on CBC News Network Monday morning, Elliot Lake Mayor Rick Hamilton said crews are "moving as quickly as they can and as safely as they can."
When pressed about an inquiry into the building's structural safety, the mayor insisted the focus was only on the rescue effort: "there certainly may be time in the future to deal with that."
Asked about his own visits to the mall and whether he noticed any possible problems with the mall's roof, Hamilton said that while he and his family shopped there, he's "just dealing with the matter now at hand which is the actual rescue."
The mayor would not divulge any more information or talk about the building's possible structural problems.
Ontario Provincial Police Insp. Percy Jollymore noted that the number of missing has been fluctuating with some names being taken off the list, and others added.
"The problem with this is there's no precise science, we don't know who was in the mall when it collapsed," said Jollymore.
Crews, including a 40-member search and rescue team from Toronto, have been working around the clock to secure the collapsed building so rescue efforts could start at the mall, located 150 kilometres west of Sudbury.
The collapse happened around 2:20 p.m. ET Saturday. There are reports two cars went through the roof. Twisted debris could be seen near a set of escalators, food court tables and lottery kiosks.
Yves Berube, who runs a jewelry story in the mall, said he had just stepped out to have a cigarette when the floor collapsed, taking off the front part of his shop.
"I didn’t even get a chance to light it [and] then all of a sudden, boom, everything caved in behind me," he told CBC News.
"So I went running back in to see, and that’s when I saw this monstrous hole .… There was one lady, when I went back in, she was still sitting in her chair. There were pieces of concrete and steel girders all around her.
"I was looking up and seeing the sky where there should have been a roof.”
Rhonda Bear, the Algo Centre Mall manager, told CBC News repair and maintenance work has been done on sections of the building's roof over the last year but not in the area that collapsed.
She also said the shopping centre's owner, Toronto-based Eastwood Mall, completed an engineering and structural study of the building last month but it turned up nothing.
However, many local residents insist the building was in need of repairs, and a local newspaper, The Standard, has previously reported that the mall's owners embarked on a massive overhaul of its roof several years ago due to leaks.
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PHOTOS-Mall Collapses in Ontario Canada
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