Five people are unaccounted for after a historic Iowa apartment building partially collapsed, and officials said Tuesday that two of them are thought to be inside the building.
Nine people have been rescued since the catastrophic structural failure of the 117-year-old, six-story complex in Davenport about 5 p.m. Sunday.
At a news conference Tuesday, city officials said they are planning to search the complex again and are consulting with fire experts and structural engineers to determine the safest way to do so.
The decision is an abrupt about-face, coming one day after Davenport officials said they’d demolish the structure on Tuesday morning after K-9 units found no survivors inside.
Hours after that Monday announcement, 52-year-old grandmother Lisa Brooks was rescued from her fourth-story apartment.
Fire Marshal James Morris said the rescue was a “viable indication” that the city needed to look again for more survivors.
Protesters had decried the demolition plans. Some were seen carrying signs that said “Davenport Deserves Better” and “Find Them First” as people chanted “Search and rescue!”
Davenport Police Chief Jeffery Bladel said Tuesday that five people are unaccounted for and “we have a firm belief” that two of them are “still potentially in that building.”
One of those still believed to be inside is Ryan Hitchcock. His cousin, Amy Anderson, spoke at the news conference saying she supported the city’s demolition plans.
“Ryan wouldn’t want anyone else to put their lives at risk,” she said. “I don’t discount that he could be trapped down there … we don’t want to see any more families lose their lives or anybody else be injured in trying to remove that rubble.”
She said she spoke with city officials the night prior and was promised that crews would search through the rubble to uncover any possible remains.
Morris said the city’s goal is to search for additional occupants in the structure, but the building’s integrity has only worsened since the collapse and it “shifted” when crews were onsite.
“We are partnering with other entities as well as our department to respectfully remove any possible human remains with dignity,” he said.
The demolition plans are “under evaluation” and essentially on hold. Officials haven’t shared a timeline on when another search or demolition will take place.
The cause of the collapse remains under investigation. Morris said they are consulting with state agencies on who will take the lead in the investigation but it’s not yet been determined if a criminal offense has occurred.
Officials on Tuesday also shed more light on the property owner, identified as Andrew Wold, and past work at the site.
Mayor Mike Matson said Wold was at the location Sunday and has been in contact with the city. NBC News has reached out to Wold multiple times for comment.
Morris said that there were initial issues with the building and a structural engineer’s report was provided to the city that determined it was safe.
That report was completed by engineering firm Select Structural Engineering based in Bettendorf, Rick Oswald, the director of Davenport’s Development & Neighborhood Services said Tuesday.
He said that two engineering reports were submitted to the city within six months: at the end of January and last week.
Both reports were in response to bricks falling off the building of 324 Main Street, and both times the engineering firm reported to the city that the building was structurally sound and outlined repairs.