A rescue team is trying to reach at least one survivor after the roof of a mall collapsed in Elliot Lake, Ont. Early Monday afternoon, rescuers remained 20-30 meters away from the person making the sound. Thirty people have been reported missing and one person is confirmed dead.
A rescue team is trying to reach at least one survivor after the roof of a mall collapsed in Elliot Lake, Ont. Early Monday afternoon, rescuers remained 20-30 meters away from the person making the sound. Thirty people have been reported missing and one person is confirmed dead.
Officials also said they heard noise coming from behind fallen slabs of concrete and metal. “Some of our search members this morning heard a couple of taps,” said Bill Needles, a spokesman from the Heavy Urban Search and Rescue team, which travelled from Toronto.
“They called for a quick silence on the site and there was a couple more taps. That was an indication to us that we were dealing with a rescue,” he said.
“We then turned our whole efforts towards trying to locate this individual. There was no verbal, there was no sight, we have no idea if it’s male, female, what age, it was just a tap.”
Rescue workers experienced a setback on Monday morning during the rescue attempt as the rubble shifted.
Police have reported 22 minor injuries from the collapse. This morning the National Post quoted an anonymous official who had been briefed on the rescue attempt: “The truth is no one has a handle on how bad it could be,” the official said.