Davenport Police Chief Jeff Bladel said during a media briefing on Thursday that three residents of an Iowa apartment building that partially collapsed on Sunday are still unaccounted for. Authorities had said five people were missing earlier this week, but Chief Bladel said that two of them have since been contacted and are safe. One moved out a month ago and was found in Texas, and the other was found locally.
Shortly before 5 p.m. on Sunday, the six-story building partially collapsed. The city of Davenport has since released documents that show the building’s owner was warned that the parts of the structural engineering of the building was unsafe. An engineer’s report dated May 24 read that patches in the west side of the building’s brick façade “appear ready to fall imminently” and could be a safety hazard to cars or passersby. The engineer’s report also detailed that window openings were insecure, with openings “bulging outward” and “poised to fall.” The report states that inside the first floor, unsupported window openings help “explain why the façade is currently about to topple outward … The brick façade is unlikely to be preserved in place, but it can be brought down in a safe, controlled manner.”
The city of Davenport received a host of complaints over the years about conditions in the century-old building. The building’s owner, Andrew Wold, released a statemen saying “our thoughts and prayers are with our tenants” and that his company, Davenport Hotel LLC, is working with agencies to help them. The city filed a new enforcement action against Wold on Tuesday, saying he failed to maintain the property “in a safe, sanitary, and structurally sound condition” before the collapse. The city is seeking a $300 fine.
Editorial credit: mikeledray / Shutterstock.com