Five tenants of the Iowa apartment building that collapsed on Sunday are still unaccounted for, city officials admitted during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
More than 36 hours after the rear section of a six-storey apartment complex on 324 Main Street collapsed, Davenport Mayor Mike Matson revealed that local police have been unable to locate five residents.
“The Davenport Police Department has been working diligently to account for the [residents] of the building ... Five individuals are still unaccounted for, two of those we believe to possibly be still in the building,” Mr Matson said.
Mr Matson’s statement comes amid protests by family members outside of the site of the collapse after the city announced plans to begin a demolition process. On Tuesday morning, a crowd gathered in front of the building with signs reading “Corruption Collapses Communities” and chanting “Save Branden, save Ryan!”
Experts said the structure, built in the 1900s is extremely unstable. Because of the layout of the building, with the rear brick part holding together much of the steal structure, officials said there were likely no void spaces where trapped victims could have shielded.
