22nd and Market Collapse

Transcription

Rick: Good morning. I’m Rick Williams with breaking news from Center City, Philadelphia. Let’s go right to Chopper 6 and show you what we are talking about. This is a collapsed building at 22nd and Market Streets. You can see an army of firemen and rescuers on the scene. Again, this is 22nd and Market Streets in Center City, just below the University City area. A building collapsed just a few moments ago. There were reports of perhaps people trapped inside. We’re still trying to determine if there are any injuries, but we do have on the phone Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers, who can hopefully brief us and bring us the latest. Commissioner, are you there?

Commissioner Ayers: Yes, I am.

Rick: All right. Thank you for joining us. Update us on what exactly has happened at 22nd and Market Street, please.

Commissioner Ayers: Yes. We’re at 22 South, 22nd Street. It’s Hillman Apartments. They have a collapse, as you can see. We have our resources going to the scene, heavy rescue. And we have approximately, we believe, several people trapped. We’ve heard 8 to 10 people. We’re working on that now. We’re trying to locate voids and areas where we can hopefully access those people and get them to medical attention right away. We have all of our Pennsylvania Urban Search and Rescue assets here in Philadelphia now with us. And we’ll be utilizing whatever is required to make these rescues.

Rick: Okay. So, you’re saying between 8 and 10 people perhaps trapped. Does that mean there are a number of people who are rescued who are able to get out in time before this, or when this happened, Commissioner?

Commissioner Ayers: We believe that there have been some people who were able to escape. I’m still working on those numbers. And as soon as I have them, we’ll get them to you.

Rick: Okay. A couple more questions, please. This apartment building, do we know? A residential apartment building, of course. Was it an old apartment building, an apartment that was perhaps under construction, or a very old building? What do we know about this building that collapsed?

Commissioner Ayers: Well, we’re working with our chiefs on the scene and also with L&I so that we can get an updated report on exactly what was going on in this building.

Rick: Okay. Commissioner. Thank you very much for that update.