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Four hurt in Mall roof collapse
- Published_at:2012-06-24
- Category:News & Politics
- Channel:hellodable
- tags: Roof (Literature Subject), collapse, Canada, shopping, mall
- description: Mayor Rick Hamilton told CBC News that four people were rushed to hospital, though none of the injuries were considered life-threatening. He later said that he could not confirm how many people had been injured, since there had not yet been an assessment of the accident site. Since the collapse, local radio station CKNR FM is reporting that the downtown core in Elliot Lake is completely closed off. The cave-in at the Algo Centre Mall took place around 2:20 p.m. Saturday, when the centre was bustling with weekend shoppers. "Some of these families are concerned that they haven't heard from their loved ones," said NDP MPP Michael Mantha, whose constituency office was located above the mall. "You see a lot of people holding hands right now, there's a lot of hugging going on. There are going to be many, many prayers that are being held tomorrow morning in many of the churches and tonight." Mantha said he knew of a few people being injured, but couldn't say how badly they had been hurt. A local state of emergency was declared soon after a portion of the mall's roof, which serves as a parking area, came thundering down through two floors. "I heard this big noise. The ground started shaking, so I ran out, my co-workers are freaking out," said Cora Richer, who was working at the Dollarama located in front of the site of the collapse. "The roof was caved-in, wires everywhere." The collapse exposed a tangle of twisted metal and concrete supports and triggered a gas leak which prompted emergency officials to cut power to the area. Richer said one of her co-workers rushed to help a man who had been hit by falling debris before the group hurried out of the mall through a back entrance. "We were freaking out," the 20-year-old said. "The rest of it could have collapsed so we went out the back." Two kiosks selling lottery tickets and cigarettes were located in the area where the roof gave way and were open before the collapse, Richer said, adding that the entire incident has rocked the community. "I was shaking, I was pretty shocked," she said. "A lot of my co-workers melted down and started crying." Another mall employee said he saw a few cars fall through the roof when it came down near the centre's escalators. "You can see the roof with the cars hanging inside," said Joe Drazil, who works at the mall's Zellers. "Everybody was cleared from the whole mall. After that, there were numerous police and emergency vehicles coming from all over." Emergency officials quickly evacuated the mall and closed surrounding roads. Authorities remained on scene Saturday night, and Mayor Hamilton told The Elliot Lake Standard that an urban extraction unit from Bolton, Ontario would be at the scene shortly. He said that no one was allowed inside until after there had been a site assessment by the Ministry of Labour. Police said they couldn't confirm any serious injuries or missing people but were asking anyone who feared for a loved one to check in at the information centre. "We have OPP officers there, along with vicars and critical incident stress people who are there to assist them. And we want to know if there is anyone missing," OPP Const. Marilyn Cameron said. The cause of the roof collapse is still unclear. Authorities said they are currently focused on rescue efforts and stabilizing the scene. Liz Fletcher, who works at a pet store down the street, said that the mall roof has been the subject of town gossip for years. "It's common knowledge that the roof was in bad shape. It was leaking every time it rained or snowed," said Fletcher. The mall is considered by many local residents to be an important community hub. It houses one of the town's few grocery stores, restaurants, a number of retail outlets and the constituency office for NDP MPP Michael Mantha. The city is located some 160 kilometres west of Sudbury
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| 2012-06-27 | 4,207 | 2 | 9 |
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| 2012-06-28 | 5,598 | 3 | 9 |
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