Desperate search for survivors after apartment building collapses in Iowa

A desperate search is underway to rescue potential survivors of an apartment building collapse in Davenport, Iowa.

Part of a red brick building on the city’s Main Street collapsed at around 5pm Sunday, with stunning photos showing at least one-fourth of the structure’s units destroyed.

As of Monday morning, a total of eight people had been rescued from the wreckage and the number of people missing remains unclear.

The cause of the collapse has not been determined.

The Quad-City Times reported Robert Robinson, who lived on the building’s second floor, walked outside for a smoke break and went back in as alarms went off.

“When we started to go back in the lights went out,” he told the newspaper. “All of a sudden everybody started running out saying the building collapsed. I’m glad we came down when we did.”

Mr Robinson and his girlfriend were able to take the elevator down just in time, he said.

“This is horrible,” he said. “We don’t have anywhere to go. Nothing to eat.”

Tadd Machovec, a contractor from Davenport, said he was inside and was working to put up a support beam when the building came down.

Some people in the area said the building has had problems.

Jennifer Smith, co-owner of Fourth Street Nutrition, said she learned of the explosion from her husband, who works for Mid-American Energy.

“He was on call and got called in for a building explosion downtown. We had no idea it was our building,” she said. “It sounds bad, but we have been calling the city and giving complaints since December. Our bathroom caved in December.”

Ms Smith said water damage has been apparent since they moved into their space in the winter. The company’s co-owner, Deonte Mack, said fire crews were in the building as recently as Thursday for an inspection.

“The tenants told us the building was going to collapse,” Ms Smith said.

The Quad-City Times reported the building is owned by Andrew Wold. A working phone number for Mr Wold was not immediately available Sunday night and attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.

According to the county assessor’s office, the last permit for the building was filed on March 2 and had “misc” listed in the description. In 2022, nearly 20 permits were filed, mainly for plumbing or electrical issues.