Searches for survivors were called off Thursday (June 6) afternoon after a building collapsed on a thrift store in Philadelphia Wednesday (June 5).
A vacant building being demolished to make room for new high-rise apartments shared a wall with a Salvation Army thrift store in Downtown Philadelphia. For weeks workers from the Griffin Campbell Construction crew were working to demolish the old building. Onlookers say they could see workers kicking bricks and that a wall was near collapse. Unfortunately, the wall that separated the buildings did eventually fold forcefully toppling onto the thrift store, destroying it. The crumble killed six people and left 14 injured survivors.
Many speculate that the demolition crew cut a few corners when destroying the building which could have caused the fatal accident. On the contrary, city officials said there were no known violations at the site, all of the permits were valid and the remains of the site have been turned over to accident investigators from police and labor departments.
Thirteen hours after the collapse rescue workers found 61-year-old, Myra Plekam, buried in the rubble. Philadelphia’s Fire Department Commissioner Lloyd Ayers called off the search at 4:30 p.m. EST Thursday, saying he was “absolutely sure” there were no more victims left under the bricks and debris.
The owner of the collapsed building issued a short statement for those affected by the tragedy. “Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the people affected by this tragic event. Please know that we are committed to working with the City of Philadelphia and other authorities to determine what happened yesterday.”
A “wide-ranging” and thorough investigation has been promised from Mayor Michael Nutter and updates regarding their findings are soon to come.
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Photos: Reuters/Philly Enquirer/CNN
