Firefighters trained in confined space and collapse rescues and Search and Rescue K-9 teams have worked through the night and into this morning searching for an employee that remains unaccounted for after a roof collapse in Landover.
The crews worked under a great risk of a secondary collapse and exercised all required precautions in an attempt to locate the employee. Search efforts have been centered in an area where the employee was last seen working in the warehouse. The area is strewn with building debris, fallen storage racks and boxes and boxes of paper files. The man has not been seen or heard from since the collapse and his car is still in the buildings parking lot.
Other employees have told firefighters that a forklift accidentally struck a storage rack causing it to fall and hit other racks and support beams. Once the support beams fell the roof collapsed and the walls buckled.
The damaged warehouse stability continues to deteriote as gaps in the buckled walls continue to grow and the undeniable sound of cracking and twisting metal grow louder. Due to the structural instabilty search efforts have paused until structural engineers arrive.
Search teams are awaiting the arrival of structural engineers to assess the building and develop the next course of action.
Mark Brady
@pgfdpio
240-508-7930
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