After 24 hours, the search and rescue effort taking place after part of an apartment building collapsed in Davenport, Iowa will transition to its recovery phase. A section of the red brick building on the city’s Main Street came down at around 5pm on Sunday, with at least one-fourth of the structure’s units destroyed. The cause of the collapse has not been determined but some residents described the sound it created as an “explosion”. Residents living in the area reported that the building was known to have problems, including visible water damage.
As of Monday morning, a total of eight people had been rescued from the wreckage and the number of people missing remains unclear. K-9 units left the scene on Monday afternoon after authorities said there was no sign of residents trapped under the rubble. However, at least one resident of the apartment complex is unaccounted for.
In an update on Monday evening, municipal council member Kyle Gripp said that the building is not salvageable and will be torn down on Tuesday. No residents will be allowed back into the building before demolition begins due to its unstable condition. The Davenport Development and Neighborhood Services Department will oversee demolition operations.
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