One Person Rescued In Lakeview Building Collapse
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A construction worker was pulled out from the rubble Friday afternoon after a garage collapsed in Lakeview.
The incident happened on the 3200 block of North Wilton Avenue. The man was trapped for more than 30 minutes before Chicago firefighters were able to free him, methodically removing heavy bricks that fell on top of him, and load him into an ambulance.
He was alert but injured. He was taken to the hospital in serious condition.
The construction worker was working on a building next to the garage, digging an underground garage, but it was not immediately clear what caused the garage to collapse.
A neighbor said work had been going on at the garage for months. He heard a large crash Friday afternoon, and then someone screaming. The neighbor said it appeared the foundation for the garage caved in.
"Everyone in the neighborhood heard a huge boom and then there was dust everywhere," said neighbor Ellen Hughes. "We're used to noise, but then we heard a man screaming. Everyone called 911, everyone."
The garage belongs to Hughes.
"They were digging right alongside the garage, and it decided to fall," she said.
Her car was covered. He vehicle helped prevent the entire structure from hitting the man.
"He was screaming," she said. "Like he was in terrific pain."
She said crews were digging for an underground garage, but whatever was going on compromised her garage's foundation.
"All his friends were desperately trying to dig him out even though more of the garage could fall on them," she said.
City building inspectors were on scene Friday evening trying to figure out what went wrong, but for neighbors they are focusing on the heroics of all who saved the injured man.
"Here's all these guys trying to save their friend. That's the image that will not get out of our minds," Hughes said.
