Man trapped in rubble as Blears' London office building collapses
Wednesday, 13 June 2007
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A building containing the offices of the Labour Party chair Hazel Blears collapsed yesterday, leaving one man trapped in the rubble and at least one other injured.
Ms Blears, one of the contenders for the Labour deputy leadership, had been in the Victorian building in St James, central London, hours before the collapse at about 4pm yesterday, but had left by the time it happened, one of her spokesmen said.
Firefighters were working to try to free the man last night. Police said he was still conscious and was trapped on the third floor of the building. Commander Steve Allen of the Metropolitan Police said the man was in contact with rescue officers, adding that another man had been taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Eye witnesses reported hearing a bang shortly before the fourth and fifth floors of the five-storey building on Dean Farrer Street collapsed. Several spoke of their fear that it had been a terrorist attack, but police said that there was no evidence of an explosion in the building.
The collapsed floors had been occupied by Ms Blears' team. Her spokesman said none of her staff had been injured, and added that the building was a business centre hired out by a number of different companies and was usually "packed with people". Several other MPs had also been in the offices yesterday morning before the collapse.
Eyewitnesses said that the street filled with smoke and that large amounts of debris had fallen from the building, some smashing into a van and motorbikes parked on the streets below.
Anthony Gilberthorpe, from York, said: "It was an explosion, it was one big thud... the roof of the building was literally showering down to the side of me. I jumped up and threw myself to the side of the road. I didn't know at the time if I would be hit but I prayed to God I wasn't."
Jason Burrows, 21, said he saw one man injured by falling debris: "I saw a man walking out holding his arm, walking around in shock."
Scotland Yard said the Health and Safety Executive would determine the cause of the collapse and workers from National Grid gas inspectors were among the experts at the scene last night.
