WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Search and rescue crews on Thursday freed a construction worker who had been trapped for more than 90 minutes inside a partially-built five-story building that collapsed during a rain storm in Washington.
The man, who was not identified by authorities, was taken to a local hospital with “serious but not life-threatening” injuries, said John Donnelly, assistant chief of D.C. Fire and EMS.
Four other construction workers were rescued from the debris shortly after the building about 5 miles (8 km) north of the Capitol came down at around 3:30 pm (1930 GMT), Donnelly said.
They were also taken to a local hospital. They had non-life-threatening injuries, Donnelly said.
Images showed dozens of firefighters swarming over piles of wood left behind by the collapse, using saws and heavy equipment to move large pieces.
Last week, a condominium tower collapsed in Surfside, Florida as most residents slept. Searchers there have recovered 18 bodies and say another 145 people remain missing.
President Joe Biden traveled https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-headed-florida-grieve-with-families-condo-collapse-2021-07-01 to the scene of the 12-story Champlain Towers South in Florida on Thursday.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
