Building Collaspe in Montreal- 26/Nov./2008

[Bruce Monkhouse]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081126/roof_collapse_081126/20081126?hub=TopStories


Crews rush to help victim of garage collapse
Updated Wed. Nov. 26 2008 11:53 AM ET

CTV.ca News

Rescue crews in Montreal are desperately trying to save a person trapped in the rubble of a parking-garage collapse this morning.

There's limited information about the collapse, but witnesses said that the first floor of the building housing the garage collapsed into its basement.

Crews are now trying to make contact with the trapped person but, so far, they have not heard a response. They don't know if others may also be trapped in the garage.

According to The Canadian Press, witnesses told a local broadcaster that they heard a crashing sound. One shaken witness said she escaped just in time. She apparently got her car out of the garage just before the collapse.

A 20-storey building next to the garage was evacuated. The manager of a neighbouring daycare said staff rushed the children out after hearing a loud boom.



This is one of those things I always think will/can never happen here..............

 

[Snafu-Bar]

Only a matter of time till this topic is headlined by the CN tower losing it's ability to stand up. That one will leave carnage on a massive scale.

Hope everyone gets out ok in the rescue effort.

Cheers.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

More from CBC,

Man trapped after collapse of Montreal parking garage roof
Last Updated: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 | 12:29 PM ET
CBC News
A man is trapped in a vehicle under a large slab of concrete after the roof of an underground parking garage collapsed Wednesday morning in Montreal, police say.

Officials are trying to jack up the concrete on top of the vehicle to reach the man. The victim has so far been unresponsive and is feared to be dead.

The man, whose identity has not been released, works for a courier company. He was reportedly with several colleagues getting ready to begin their deliveries when the concrete fell on the car at 8:47 a.m. ET in the three-level parking garage at 135 Rue Deguire in the city's Saint-Laurent suburb.

No other injuries have been reported.

Officials said a large slab of concrete with cars parked on top of it fell onto the lower floor. It is still too early to determine the cause of the collapse.

CBC's Nancy Wood reported from the scene that several people who work in the area say they've noticed problems with the parking garage over the past several weeks, including cracks and water leaks.

As a precaution, residents of a highrise building next door to the parking garage have been evacuated from their apartments and taken to a nearby emergency centre. It's unclear when they'll be allowed to return.

Some residents living on the lower floors said they felt the building shake around the time of the collapse, said Wood.

 

[ENGINEERS WIFE]

Man dead after parking-garage collapse in Montreal
Updated Wed. Nov. 26 2008 2:10 PM ET

CTV.ca News

Rescue crews in Montreal say a man who was trapped in the rubble of a parking-garage collapse has died.

The victim is believed to be in his 30s and had apparently just arrived for work when the collapse occurred at about 8:45 a.m. It's believed the man worked at a dental supplies courier company, which used the garage to park its vehicles.

Speaking to CTV Montreal shortly before 1 p.m., firefighter Aime Charette said crews were trying to determine if anyone else may be trapped in the garage.

"They will be checking the whole surface of the garage," he said.

"We haven't heard any other sounds coming from the garage ... but the search is ongoing."

CTV Montreal's Daniele Hamamdjian said it appears that a ten-metre section of the structure collapsed into the basement.

The garage is part of a two-storey building, which is adjacent to a 17-storey apartment complex.

Earlier, Charette had described the accident as a "pancake collapse" where the top part of the building fell on the lower section.

Witnesses said they heard a crashing sound at about the time of the collapse. One shaken witness said she escaped just in time. She apparently got her car out of the garage just before the collapse.

The manager of a neighbouring daycare said staff rushed the children out after hearing a loud boom.

Local residents told CTV Montreal they're not surprised by Wednesday's collapse. They said they had complained to the city in the past, noting that the building looked shoddy and smelled.

"If we look at the structure of the building, it's a very, very old building ... there is a lot of rust on the structure of the building," one area resident said.

Engineers are now trying to determine if an adjacent building that was evacuated is safe for residents to return. About 500 people were forced out of their homes. Engineers will also inspect buildings in the neighbourhood that are similar to the structure which collapsed.

With files from The Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081126/roof_collapse_081126/20081126?hub=TopStories

 

[davidk]

Just another example of Quebec's crumbling infrastructure...and yet again it costs lives. Reminds me a lot of the 2006 overpass collapse in Laval.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

Man dies after Montreal parking garage roof collapses
Courier company driver crushed under slab of concrete
Last Updated: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 | 6:03 PM ET
CBC News
Montreal authorities worked to restore calm around a collapsed underground parking garage in Saint-Laurent where a man died Wednesday after his vehicle was crushed by a large slab of concrete.

The man, who worked for a courier company, was trapped in the driver's seat of his vehicle for several hours Wednesday morning and remained unresponsive while emergency crews worked feverishly to free him, police said.

Firefighters tried to jack up the slab of concrete and used a circular saw to cut into his vehicle, but the man was declared dead at the scene midday.

Police said the man, described as in his 30s or 40s, was heading out for his morning delivery run when an entire second floor of the underground three-storey garage collapsed, dropping a giant slab of concrete on the floor where he was parked.

The floor, measuring about 30 square metres, "caved in, sort of like a pancake," said Aimé Charette, operations chief with the Montreal Fire Department. "It fell as if you'd just cut out a piece."

The collapse sounded like a sonic boom, eyewitnesses said.

Windows in the apartment building above and adjacent to the garage rattled when the subterranean concrete floor came crashing down at 8:47 a.m. at 135 Deguire St., in the borough of Saint-Laurent.

Some residents living on the lower floors of the apartment building said they felt it shaking around the time of the collapse, CBC journalist Nancy Wood reported from the scene.

Authorities rushed to evacuate some 500 residents from a nearby highrise building to a local sports centre, and relocated children and staff from an adjoining daycare to a seniors residence down the street.

No other injuries were reported.

Building safety is paramount: mayor
Crowds of onlookers watched as firefighters combed through the debris with the help of police dogs, in search of any other possible victims. Fire department authorities confirmed there were no other victims late Wednesday afternoon, before handing over the investigation to police.

After visiting the collapse scene, Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay indicated the city's priority is to ensure the security of surrounding buildings, to determine "when people can return home," he said. "But that won't be in the next few hours."

Describing the collapse as a "tragedy," Tremblay said he watched the victim's body be removed from the debris, before being transferred to the morgue. "I met with people he worked with," Tremblay said. "They're traumatized, they want to know what happened."

Provincial inspectors will visit the privately owned building, and it is their responsibility to make sure standards are respected, Tremblay added.

Canadian real estate firm Cap Reit, based in Toronto, owns the property but declined to comment on the collapse.

CBC Television reporter Nancy Wood said several people who work in the area told her they've noticed problems with the parking garage over the past several weeks, including cracks and water leaks.

The 17-storey apartment building, named Joie de vivre, rents out apartments ranging from $500 to $760 per month, with parking spots starting at $45.

The victim's employer, Medic Express, parked its fleet of cars in the underground parking lot.

Political leaders react to accident
Quebec Premier Jean Charest expressed his condolences to the victim's family. "It's very sad when these things happen, for the family of the victim and for loss of life, and that's the first thought that comes to my mind," he said, during a campaign stop.

Action Démocratique du Québec Leader Mario Dumont has also expressed his sympathy for the victim's family, saying his thoughts are with the man's parents and relatives.

The incident calls for a complete investigation, he added. "There certainly will be an inquiry to understand what happened, what might be related to construction or security," Dumont said. "Politically, the thing we can do is thorough inquiries to understand why, and make sure it [isn't] repeated."

 

[ENGINEERS WIFE]

Quebec gov't issued memo about parking-garage collapse
Updated Thu. Nov. 27 2008 5:53 PM ET

The Canadian Press

MONTREAL -- The Quebec government says it sent a memo two years ago to building owners warning about the potential for the exact type of parking-lot collapse that killed a Montreal man this week.

A spokeswoman for the provincial building-safety board says owners were issued a warning about the corrosive effects of de-icing salt and the need to perform regular maintenance work on multi-level garages.

The December 2006 memo -- still posted on the Regie du batiment's website -- carries a graphic that bears an eerie resemblance to Wednesday's spectacular collapse.

The illustration shows collapsing slabs of concrete, falling cars, and vehicles being crushed in a scene almost identical to this week's fatal accident.

The memo warns owners that they must ensure their concrete structures remain in good shape, in order to protect people's safety.

The company that owns the complex in west-end Montreal was among those to receive the notice, the government spokeswoman said.

"The property owner has a legal responsibility to maintain his building," Regie spokeswoman Marjolaine Veillette said in an interview Thursday.

"It's up to him to do the necessary maintenance to his building so that its occupants are safe."

She said a government inspector went to check electrical wiring in the building's stairwell, located near the parking garage, after a call from the fire department this past May.

The inspector did not enter the garage.

The real-estate giant that owns the building remained tight-lipped on Thursday. After scheduling interviews with its president Thomas Schwartz, the Cap Reit company cancelled them and issued a terse statement instead.

The company said it was inspecting the accident site with government-appointed engineers.

The Toronto-based company said it would work with the Red Cross to provide food, lodging and even clothing for the 500 people who were forced out of their homes following the accident.

Tenants of the Montreal highrise say there were various complaints about the state of their building long before a deadly floor collapse Wednesday.

A massive chunk of concrete dropped onto parked cars, killing one person inside the building's multi-level garage.

Sally Saade said she used to work as a receptionist for Cap Reit -- a Toronto real-estate firm -- but quit because irate tenants regularly showed up at her office to complain about problems in the building.

Saade said the building manager had received repeated requests to fix rusted-out beams and plug leaky pipes that cause what she called a seemingly perpetual flood in the parking garage.

She lives in the 35-year-old complex and described it as something she'd expect to see in her native Lebanon -- not in Canada.

"The building is going backwards," said a visibly shaken Saade.

"The building needs renovations. . . I don't want to live what I lived 20 years ago in the war in Lebanon. I don't want to see that. We are not in the Third World, we are in Canada."

Eleventh-floor resident Antoine Coderre said he had concerns about the building for years.

Coderre was in the elevator heading down to the garage at the time of the collapse. He said he's thankful to be alive.

"There are lots of things that need to be fixed," said Coderre, who has lived in the building for more than 20 years.

"It's a catastrophe. A floor has fallen -- that's a bad situation."

Oren Aizenstros, another tenant, said the garage floors were riddled with cracks.

"You'd look at the ground, your car would hit some of these cracks and you'd be like, `Maybe this should be taken care of,' " he said.

Tenant Simon Abou-Antoun said he's seen maintenance workers paint over the rusty beams in the parking garage.

He also said water from an adjacent car wash continually seeps into the concrete floors.

Two weeks ago a rusted-out pipe collapsed onto the floor of the garage, Abou-Antoun said.

The company did not respond to an email requesting comment on the tenants' complaints.


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