Philadelphia building collapse: Rescuers dig through rubble

The cause of the collapse of a four-story building in downtown Philadelphia on Wednesday is still under investigation, said officials. Authorities do not know how many people were inside a nearby thrift store or on the sidewalk at the time of the collapse.

|
AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma
Rescue personnel search the scene of a building collapse in downtown Philadelphia on Wednesday. A four-story building being demolished collapsed on the edge of downtown, killing 6 and injuring 13.

Six people were killed and 13 others injured on Wednesday when a building collapsed in downtown Philadelphia, Mayor Michael Nutter said.

Search and rescue efforts continued into the night for more victims of the collapse, which occurred around 10:45 a.m. when a four-story building under demolition fell onto a neighboring two-story Salvation Army Thrift Store.

"We still do not know how many people were inside the thrift store or possibly on the sidewalk" at the time of the collapse, Nutter said at a news conference.

Authorities say the cause of the collapse, which occurred at 22nd and Market streets in the heart of Philadelphia's Center City, was still under investigation.

A witness told Reuters the building collapse shook the ground and knocked a man off his feet on the sidewalk outside the thrift store.

"It was ground-shaking. The shaking of the ground made the man fall down," said Jordan McLaughlin, 18, of Philadelphia.

Police urged the public to stay away from the area while rescuers dug through the rubble.

Authorities said the building that was being demolished had housed an X-rated book and video store. They said it was owned by Richard Basciano, a well-known owner of adult entertainment properties including Philadelphia's last X-rated movie house, which closed in 2012, and a New York Times Square pornography emporium known as Show World, which closed in 2004.

Basciano did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.

(Reporting by Dave Warner; Additional reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by David Gregorio, Steve Orlofsky and Eric Beech)

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Philadelphia building collapse: Rescuers dig through rubble
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0606/Philadelphia-building-collapse-Rescuers-dig-through-rubble
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe