A search and rescue effort in Iowa was winding down on Monday after the partial collapse of a six-story apartment building the day before, officials said.
The Davenport Police Department said its officers and firefighters responded about 5 p.m. Sunday to a report of the collapse at 324 Main Street in Davenport, a city along the Mississippi River in the eastern part of the state.
Overnight, more than a dozen people were escorted from the building and eight were rescued, Davenport Fire Department Chief Michael Carlsten said at a news conference Monday. A man was taken to the hospital, but Chief Carlsten did not know the man’s condition. There was no information on other injuries.
There were no known individuals still trapped and no fatalities were reported, but crews used dogs trained to detect and rescue bodies on Monday to search the wreckage, the chief said.
Mayor Mike Matson said Monday that firefighters and emergency medical workers saved lives by rushing into the building, which has 84 residential and commercial units.
Firefighters discovered a large natural gas leak and a water leak in the building, but the cause of the collapse was not known, Chief Carlsten said.
Rich Oswald, the city’s director of neighborhood development and services, said construction was taking place on the building’s exterior at the time of the collapse, and bricks were reported to have fallen from the building earlier this week.
John Peragine contributed reporting from Davenport, Iowa.
