Committee To Investigate Deadly Building Collapse
By Mark Abrams
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia City Council President Darrell Clarke says it is time for a special council investigative committee to look into last week's building collapse that claimed six lives and injured 13 others.
Clarke says he will name members of that investigative committee Monday afternoon and charge them with conducting a broad review of city procedures and regulations, especially related to construction and demolition, certification of workers and licenses and permits for such work.
For the first time, we are also hearing from the contractor who had the demolition contract.
Attorney Kenneth Edelin, representing demolition company owner Griffin T. Campbell, released a statement Sunday night saying he supports a full investigation by city and federal officials into what happened.
Edelin says Campbell grieves for those who have lost loved ones and prays for speedy recoveries for those who were hurt.
Forty-two-year-old Sean Benschop, the excavator operator at the demolition site, remains behind bars Monday without bail.
Benschop surrendered to police over the weekend. He has been charged with six counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths of the six who were buried under the rubble of the collapse of the Salvation Army Thrift Shop.
A memorial service was held Sunday night at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for one of the victims; 24-year-old Anne Bryan, the daughter of Philadelphia City Treasurer Nancy Winkler.
She was remembered as a kind, inquisitive and promising young artist.
Also over the weekend, lawyers representing some of the collapse victims went through the remains of the debris field taking photos and video they say will become part of a record in lawsuits they intend to file.
