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Search resumes in collapsed Elliot Lake mall at premier's urging
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Emergency crews are at work, Tuesday, to consider some "extreme measures" to reach at least two people trapped in a collapsed mall in Elliot Lake, Ont.
The roof collapse at Algo Mall killed one person, injured 22, and has a number of people unaccounted for, but the owners of the mall refused to abandon hope after hearing taps on slabs of concrete and metal from a person caught in the rubble earlier in the day.
A senior Ontario government source said McGuinty spoke with Prime Minister Stephen Harper Monday night about the situation in Elliot Lake, and asked for federal assistance.
"The prime minister seemed willing and now our officials are working together,"' the source said.
A spokesman for Harper said the prime minister has offered the services of the Canadian Forces and other federal resources to assist with the rescue efforts.
"We will continue our efforts with the support of the Premier of Ontario. We spoke to him directly. The owner of the mall has given authority for the emergency crews to proceed by any means necessary," Elliot Lake Mayor Rick Hamilton said at a press conference, late Monday evening.
"Since the last press conference, the team has been meeting with a focus of coming up with an effective solution. I would like to say the team never gave up," Hamilton said.
Rescue workers will come up with a plan to allow the rescue of any survivors or the recovery of any remains inside the mall to be removed from the site. They say they will be moving to more extreme measures.
"The actual going into that particular area -- it still hasn't changed. That area is totally unsafe. It could come down at any time, but they're going to try a mechanical means to get rid of that problem," Elliot Lake Fire Chief Paul Officer said.
Following the press conference, Premier McGuinty tweeted "Directed rescuers to look for new ways to save victims in #ElliotLake. Let's keep victims, families, & community in our thoughts and prayers."
McGuinty told reporters if it were a member of his family or a close friend caught inside, he would want "no stone left unturned," and rescue crews owe it to the families and community of Elliot Lake to give it their best shot.
Earlier Monday evening, the owners announced they planned to seek an injunction against the decision to abandon rescue and recovery efforts, according to the mall manager. At the same time, many residents protested outside the town's city hall, expressing their dismay at the decision to call off the rescue so soon after the collapse.
Toronto's Heavy Urban Search and Rescue team entered the part of the mall where they believed a victim was trapped, Monday morning, but the efforts did not last long.
"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," said Bill Needles, a spokesman. "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."
Needles said crews drilled through a wall in an attempt to locate the victim but weren't able to find anyone.
By late Monday afternoon, the team had pulled its members out of the rubble because engineers confirmed beams inside the building were unsafe. The staircase and escalator inside the mall were beginning to separate from the building.
"I had to make the decision that it's not safe to put the workers back in there because this could be a devastating collapse. Not only would it be possible for this escalator and staircase to fall down, but they couldn't determine with any great understanding or knowledge what else might fall," Needles said.
"What the engineer tells me is that it is over 100 per cent over strength to hold the capacity, and realistically, the engineer's telling me he doesn't understand why it hasn't collapsed already, but it's holding," he added. "What that says and what that does made the determination that the building is unsafe and totally unsafe."
"Our team is certainly not happy, I'm not happy, nobody's happy that we have to stop work but that's unfortunately the way that we've had to end this situation."
Officials believe at least two victims are still caught in the rubble, but they say only one is alive. However, safety fears prevented them from sending in a Canine Unit or Life Detection Equipment with an officer.
The Heavy Urban Search and Rescue team handed the site back to local authorities Monday night. At the same time, the Ministry of Labour told the owner of the Algo Mall to hire an engineer to come up with a plan for demolishing a part of the building or the entire structure, while respecting any people still alive in the rubble.
Police had a list of people who had not been found since Saturday's tragic events, and by late Sunday night it still contained nine names. But Ontario Provincial Police Insp. Percy Jollymore insisted that number was fluctuating as some of those reported missing had been located and others -- who hadn't been heard from -- were added to the list.
"The problem with this is there's no precise science, we don't know who was in the mall when it collapsed," said Jollymore. "We won't stop until the list has been satisfied."
Family and friends of the missing have been waiting anxiously near the mall for news. Residents of the former mining hub say abandoning trapped comrades would be unthinkable in miners' culture, speculating that perhaps volunteer mine workers would take up the rescue effort themselves Monday evening.
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