2 missing workers presumed dead after parking garage collapse in Philadelphia's Grays Ferry neighborhood
Two construction workers who have been missing since a parking garage in Grays Ferry partially collapsed Wednesday are presumed dead, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said.
Parker said all three workers who died were members of Ironworkers Union Local 401. One of the workers was pronounced dead at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center on Wednesday after the partial collapse on the 3000 block of Grays Ferry Avenue. Two other people were rescued from the collapse and treated and released from the hospital.
Parker said city agencies have notified the families of the workers who died in the collapse. The workers have yet to be publicly identified.
"We stand resolutely with every member of the Local 401 family and the Philadelphia Building Trades during this very difficult time," Parker said.
An ironworker who did not want to be identified told CBS News Philadelphia on Friday that Ironworkers throughout the city are feeling the loss.
"You take a ticket out of a hall for a job or you make a phone call to get on a job and sometimes, these things happen. And it's terrible," he said. It's just, I'm really almost at a loss for words for how terrible it really feels. Like you don't ever want to see something like this happen. It definitely is a brotherhood. We're all feeling it."
The collapse at the parking garage under construction, which is owned by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, happened around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday. It happened during the installation of precast concrete sections, when one section failed and triggered a chain reaction. A video obtained by CBS News Philadelphia shows the moment of the collapse.
The site's general contractor, HSC Builders and Construction Managers, said Friday they're devastated by the incident. In a statement, the company wrote, in part, "We have never experienced a collapse or failure in the company's history. Our immediate mission is to do whatever we can to aid the deceased workers and their families."
Parker said city crews have been working around the clock since the tragic incident.
Four FEMA-certified dogs searched the site of the collapse Thursday, but found no signs of life. Robots and drones from the Philadelphia Police Department and Fire Department were also sent to search the site, but they were unsuccessful.
Parker said that's when the city switched the objective from a rescue mission to a recovery operation. A demolition is set to begin Friday in order to bring the collapsed parking garage lower, which will make it safer for rescue teams to find the remains of the workers, Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Jeffrey Thompson said.
Parker said that city crews are notifying neighbors in Grays Ferry around the collapse site about what to expect for the demolition.
"Right now, Philadelphia, it's important for us to affirm together in a manner that's fitting for each of us to send our prayers with the families who have been impacted," Parker said. "The family of the individual who has passed and also the family of the two people are presumed deceased."
The city's Office of Emergency Management said when demolition work begins, residents should expect it to be noisy and should close their windows.
Friday, Gov. Josh Shapiro ordered all flags across Pennsylvania to fly at half-staff. Parker ordered the same for the city of Philadelphia.
Initially, Thompson said they planned to deconstruct the partially collapsed parking garage piece by piece to rescue the workers. But that changed once engineers detected severe movement at the collapsed garage, which means it could collapse at any moment.
"The building was so unstable that strategy required us to put a crane very close to the building, and the crane operator would then be in the collapse zone, and we did not want to put anyone else in harm's way," Thompson said.
The city even brought in additional engineers to inspect the site and get a second opinion on how to approach the operation. Thompson said the second group of engineers agreed it was too dangerous for the initial plan and recommended demolishing the site.
"It is our hope and our goal to safely bring this tragic, unfortunate incident to a conclusion tomorrow," Thompson said Thursday.
Grays Ferry Avenue from 29th to 33rd streets remains closed and will be closed until it's determined it is safe for the public to return to the area. The shopping center across the street from the collapsed garage is also still closed.
Multiple agencies, including the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Philadelphia Fire Department, Philadelphia Police Department and L&I, will be on the scene of the collapse until the investigation is completed.
Parker emphasized again on Thursday night that CHOP leadership has been cooperating with the investigation into the collapse. Updates on the collapse will be posted on the city of Philadelphia's website.
"We're going to get to the damn bottom about what happened here," Parker said.