Searchers wary of unstable structure after Hard Rock Hotel collapse
NEW ORLEANS — Officials in New Orleans say they are continuing to look for one person missing in the rubble of a hotel that collapsed while under construction.
Fire Chief Tim McConnell said Sunday that crews are assembling a 220,000-pound (99,800-kilogram) crane driven into the city overnight to begin the delicate process of removing the debris at the Hard Rock Hotel project near New Orleans’ historic French Quarter.
McConnell says his crews are still approaching this as a rescue mission. But he says the building is so unstable they have to be careful not to endanger any rescuers.
The bodies of the two people killed haven’t been recovered.
WWL-TV obtained a viewer’s dramatic video of upper floors falling on top of each other Saturday before one side of the building crashed to the street.