Iowa apartment collapse leaves residents missing, rubble too dangerous to search

DES MOINES, Iowa — Five residents of a six-story apartment building that partially collapsed in eastern Iowa remained unaccounted for Tuesday, and authorities feared at least two of them might be stuck inside rubble that was too dangerous to search.

The three other missing residents are not believed to have been in the building when it started collapsing Sunday afternoon, said state Rep. Monica Kurth. Mayor Mike Matson confirmed at a news conference that not all the residents were accounted for.

A group of protesters held signs and chanted near the building Tuesday morning, arguing the city was moving too quickly toward demolishing the 116-yearold brick and steel structure. Built as a hotel, it had more recently been used as apartments, and tenants had been allowed to remain even as bricks began falling from the building.

After the partial collapse, the city had announced plans to begin demolishing the unstable remains of the structure as early as Tuesday morning, but they delayed after a woman was found Monday evening.

Officials now say immediate demolition was never intended, but they did want to quickly stage the site for the tear-down. The woman’s rescue prompted officials to see if they could safely enter and ensure others weren’t inside, but that is extremely difficult when the building could collapse at any time, they said.

“This could be a place of rest for some of the unaccounted,” Matson said. The city is trying to determine how to bring down what remains of the building while maintaining the dignity of people who may have been killed, he said.

Fire Marshal James Morris said explosives will not be used on the building, which is near other structures and is “unstable and continues to worsen.” Removing the debris that is propping up the rest of the building could cause further collapse, he said.

“We’re very sympathetic to the possibility that there’s two people” still left inside, Morris said as he fought back tears.

He said there will be an investigation into what caused the collapse but that it’s unclear so far whether a criminal investigation is warranted.

Officials sought to explain why Fire Chief Michael Carlsten said Monday morning that “no known individuals are trapped.” The city also had issued a statement saying the owner was served Monday with a demolition order and the process would begin Tuesday morning.

The discovery of another survivor Monday evening, rescued by ladder truck from a fourth-floor window, prompted the city to reevaluate, they said Tuesday. The woman was pulled to safety only after popping out a window screen and waving to people gathered below.

“We had no indications from any of the responders that we had, any of the canines, any of the tools at the time” that there was anyone else left alive in the building, Morris said.