Rescue teams are scrambling to find anyone who may be trapped after a six-story building partially collapsed in Davenport, Iowa, on Sunday.
Officials said crews discovered gas and water leaks in the middle of the building. The number of missing is not known, nor is the number of people who have been displaced.
“It’s an active scene, we’re going to continue to work and evaluate and the sole purpose is to try to find people to try to take down,” Davenport Mayor Mike Mattson said Sunday night during a press conference.
Richard Oswald, the city’s director of neighborhood services, said the building’s owners have pending permits for repairs to the exterior wall.
Mattson and Davenport Fire Chief Mike Carlsten said the building’s safety is a concern. The cause of the collapse has not yet been announced, CNN reports.
Crews were dispatched to the scene around 4:55 p.m. Sunday, Carlsten said. He said part of the back of the building collapsed and separated from the rest of the building.
CNN
“I live next door, and we heard a big crash,” Andrew Sommer, a former tenant of The Davenport, told CNN affiliate KWQC. Soon after, we went out and saw the entire section of the building disappear.
Officials said emergency crews detected a large natural gas leak and water leak from every floor of the building. Public services have been secured ever since.
Carlsten said seven people were rescued from the building and more than a dozen others were escorted outside.
The area will remain closed while search and investigation efforts continue.
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