Building Collapse at 22nd and Market: Latest News


[Updated June 6, 9:27 a.m.] PHOTOS: The search for missing bodies appears to be over this morning. Officials say six people died in the collapse. Also, one survivor, a woman, was rescued just before midnight and was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

[Updated 10:30 p.m.] WATCH: Here’s demolition video of the construction site taken a few days before the collapse.

[Updated 10:20 p.m.]

[Updated 7 p.m.] The mayor gave a briefing this evening. NewsWorks covered:

At least one person died and 13 were injured when a building at 22nd and Market streets in Philadelphia collapsed onto an adjacent Salvation Army store Wednesday morning. At a press conference Wednesday evening, Mayor Michael Nutter confirmed that a 35-year-old woman died in the the collapse. Officials said the family had requested that no further information be released. The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that two people have died, but that could not be independently confirmed.    
 

Fourteen people are known to have been in the building when it collapsed, fire officials say. The Inquirer does continue to say that two people died, though it’s not been confirmed officially at this hour.

Law enforcement sources on the scene initially said two people were killed. Just after 3 p.m., the sources said that one woman’s body had been pulled from the rubble just after 2 p.m., and another victim’s body was seen by a witness in the basement.    
 

[Updated: 4 p.m.] Fire commissioner Lloyd Ayers said around 3 p.m. that new teams of emergency responders would transition onto the site of the collapse and that search and clearing efforts would continue for the next 12 to 24 hours. On Property, Philly Mag real estate editor Liz Spikol reports on the owner of the collapsed building:

The owner of the building was Baltimore native Richard Basciano, associate, friend and one-time estate executor for notorious blight meister and slumlord Sam Rappaport. If one is truly judged by the company he keeps, Basciano would already be held in low esteem, but he shoulders another burden: a reputation as the porn king of Times Square–this was back in the ’70s and ’80s, when that was quite an achievement. His friends and business associates at that time had criminal ties and mob ties; one of them, in fact, was assassinated by John Gotti.    
 

READ MORE: Owner Is Richard “Porn King” Basciano, a Sam Rappaport Alum [Updated: 1:40 p.m.] One person has been reported dead by sources, though the city has not confirmed.

[Updated: 12:57 p.m.] Important, possibly good news:

And reporters are already pursuing the backstory:

So are gadfly bloggers:

[Updated: 12:50 p.m.] Gov. Corbett sends a message: Meanwhile, you are urged to stop your rubbernecking. You know who you are:

Meanwhile, a nearby construction worker says, yes, this collapse wasn’t all that surprising:

[Updated: 12:40 pm] Mayor Nutter is speaking to the media:

[Updated: 12:22 p.m.]

Flickr user luidude got this picture of the scene hours before collapse: [Updated: 11:47 a.m.] Nick Vadala has this photo of a victim being taken from the scene:

From NBC 10:

A building in downtown Philadelphia has collapsed and authorities fear that as many as 10 people may be trapped beneath the rubble and a frantic search is underway. The collapse at 22nd and Market Street happened around 10:30 a.m., and early reports from Philadelphia Police indicate that it may be the results of an industrial accident. According to Lloyd Ayers, Philadelphia Fire Commissioner, rescuers are searching for 8-10 individuals.

This pic is from nearby alley:  

[ORIGINAL POST] 6 ABC reports:

Emergency crews are responding to the report of a collapse at the corner of 22nd and Market streets in Center City Philadelphia. The incident happened at 10:45 a.m. inside a building at that location. The Fire Department is reporting there are people trapped and medic units are being dispatched to the scene.