Five people have been taken to hospital, one without vital signs, and crews are working to rescue up to two others trapped after a building under construction partially collapsed Friday in London, Ont.
A statement from the City of London says the incident happened at 555 Teeple Terrance in the city’s west end just before noon, when the wall of a four-storey building under construction collapsed suddenly.
London resident Elizabeth Rutherford lives nearby.
She said she heard a “horrendous crash” shortly after arriving at home.
“I could hear all this yelling,” she said. “I kept hearing them and thought there’s something serious going on. I opened one of the curtains and all hell was breaking loose out here.”
Rutherford said she saw construction workers rushing around and shortly after, emergency crews began to arrive.
Police are asking people to avoid the area. The roads leading to the site have been blocked to traffic.
The city has activated its emergency operations centre and shortly after 1 p.m. Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg tweeted that a heavy urban search and rescue team has been authorized to be sent to London.
<a href=”https://twitter.com/ONFireMarshal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@ONFireMarshal</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/jonpeggOFMEM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@jonpeggOFMEM</a> have authorized the deployment of the Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR) team to London, Ont for a structural collapse. The team is preparing and deploying. <a href=”https://twitter.com/Toronto_Fire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Toronto_Fire</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/TorontoMedics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@TorontoMedics</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/TorontoPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@TorontoPolice</a>
—@ChiefPeggTFS
London’s Victoria Hospital has also issued a code orange, which is used in the event of an external disaster that creates an immediate demand for services that outstrip the hospital’s resources.