Iowa building collapse - latest: Davenport authorities quit rubble search for missing despite family pleas

The cause of the collapse has not been determined, officials said. After responding to the scene, authorities found a gas leak after the collapse and water also had leaked throughout the floors of the structure.

Rich Oswald, City of Davenport director of development and neighbourhood services, said that work was being done on the building’s exterior after reports of bricks falling from the building last week.

City officials said in an update on Monday evening that the building is not salvageable and would be torn down.

No residents will be allowed back into the building before demolition begins due to its unstable condition.

“The owner of the property has been served with a notice and order for demolition of the property,” Council member Kyle Gripp said.

“The property is currently being secured by a contractor on site this afternoon and demolition is expected to commence in the morning.”

Fire Marshall J Morris said on Tuesday that authorities faced a challenging decision, as experts recommend a demolition as soon as permitting is obtained, while family members fear that their loved ones are still alive under the rubble.

Johnnie Woods told The Des Moines Register that her nephew Branden Colvin, who lived in a fifth-floor apartment in the building, did not show up for a family gathering on Sunday night. The family’s attempts to locate him since have been unsuccessful.

Ms Woods said a neighbour of Mr Colvin’s told her he’d seen him moments before the collapse. Mr Colvin’s vehicle was also in the building’s parking lot and had to be towed after the tragedy.

“My other nephews and other people have been trying to call his phone, and he’s not answering his phone,” Ms Woods told the Register. “So we’re assuming something, that he can’t talk, his phone is dead, or something. Really, we don’t know anything.”

Ms Woods said she learned Ryan Hitchcock was also unaccounted for during a meeting with police on Monday. A woman who police said is related to Mr Hitchcock noted during the press conference on Tuesday that she agreed with demolition plans.

“I was completely mortified about the protests. These people raising a voice, and they don’t know Ryan,” Amy Henderson said. “The city does have a plan and pushing for any delays ... it’s one more day that he’s under there. Ryan wouldn’t want anyone else to put their lives at risk unfortunately for someone who probably has not survived.”

During another search on Tuesday night, several animals were rescued but there were ni signs of human activity, officials said.

Aurea Monet lived in a studio in the six-storey apartment building for around seven months, moving out just eight weeks before the block partially collapsed on Sunday.

In a series of TikTok videos, she says that she broke the lease on the rental unit and moved out after noticing huge cracks on both the inside and outside walls of her apartment.

The cracks started to develop after construction work began on the property, she says.

In the video, Ms Monet says “they started construction a while back and during that time I noticed a crack above my outlet”.

She says it was “much smaller at first” but then the crack “progressed over my time being there”.

When permit records for an Iowa building that collapsed this past weekend were mysteriously changed after the tragedy, city officials blamed a “computer glitch”.

Skeptical members of the community aren’t convinced it was a mistake.

The Independent has more:

City officials in Davenport, Iowa, have admitted that five residents of the building that collapsed this weekend are still unaccounted for – a day after announcing plans to proceed with the demolition of the unstable structure.

A rear section of The Davenport, a six-storey apartment complex on 324 Main Street, collapsed at around 5pm on Sunday following reports last week that bricks were falling off the building and several complaints from tenants about their living conditions.

Nine people have been rescued from the wreckage as of Tuesday morning, according to Davenport Fire Chief Michael Carlsten. The ninth person rescued early Tuesday, more than 24 hours after the collapse, was Lisa Brooks — following statements by Mr Carlsten on Monday evening that “no one was believed to be trapped” under the wreckage.

“She’s at home, she’s fine now. She had passed out under the couch and the only reason she woke up, it’s because we were yelling her name,” Ms Brooks’ niece Pauletta Joeanna told The Independent.

Davenport Mayor Mike Matson admitted during a press conference on Tuesday that the Davenport Police Department has yet to account for five residents of the building. Two of them, Ryan Hitchcock and Branden Colvin, are feared to still be in the building.

The structure was undergoing permitted repairs at the time of the tragedy, officials said.

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Experts said the structure, built in the 1900s is extremely unstable. Because of the layout of the building, with the rear brick part holding together much of the steal structure, officials said there were likely no void spaces where trapped victims could have shielded.

Authorities said its brittle condition is worsening with time and the possibility of another collapse is now imminent.

When permit records for an Iowa building that collapsed this past weekend were mysteriously changed after the tragedy, city officials blamed a “computer glitch”. Skeptical members of the community aren’t convinced it was a mistake.

Five tenants are still unaccounted for after a large portion of a six-storey apartment complex in Davenport fell down on Sunday night. Authorities have said they now face a challenging decision as engineers warned another collapse of the remaining structure is “imminent” - but at least two men, Ryan Hitchcock and Branden Davis, are feared to be trapped in the existing wreckage.

The announcement of demolition plans less than 24 hours after the collapse, before city officials even acknowledged they had been unable to locate several residents, sparked outrage within the community who as protesters gathered at the site. The eleventh-hour rescue of a tenant who had passed out under a couch and awoke to the sound of family yelling her name also heightened concern that the men could be alive under the rubble.