UPDATE (8:20 a.m.):
Assistant chief David Boone of Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services confirmed to sa国际传媒 that a fifth body was recovered from the rubble at around midnight on Wednesday (July 14).
Crews arrived on scene at around 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday, and Boone said they went straight to work. He said that the body of the man was located shortly after personnel arrived, but they needed a plan to extricate him.
Working alongside Kelowna Fire and Rescue, crews were able to recover the body at around midnight Wednesday.
sa国际传媒淲e felt there was a need to do so. There was enough daylight to initiate that,sa国际传媒� said Boone. sa国际传媒淏y the time it got dark, we already accomplished enough and we continued to work in the dark. We were able to work through until about midnight and left the scene in care of RCMP and Kelowna Fire Rescue.sa国际传媒�
ORIGINAL (7:45 a.m.):
A specialized team of first responders from Vancouver has arrived in Kelowna, B.C., to begin the work of trying to recover the body of a missing man under the rubble of a building next to a construction site where a crane collapsed, killing four other people.
Assistant chief David Boone of Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services said firefighters, paramedics, police and an engineer are part of the heavy urban rescue team, one of six such teams in Canada.
Boone, who is leading the team, said work is expected to begin Wednesday after an assessment of the site where RCMP said a crane toppled Monday from above a 25-storey residential tower under construction and crashed into a neighbouring building.
sa国际传媒淲e get briefed by the first responders that have been active on-site, we get briefed by their engineer and the engineer for the crane and we come up with an incident action plan and prepare the site for work,sa国际传媒� he said late Tuesday.
sa国际传媒淚n regards to actual activity of any sort, breaching walls, getting into the building, a lot of work has to occur before that happens.sa国际传媒�
The missing man, who is presumed dead, was working in the building adjacent to the construction site and police were hoping to recover his body Tuesday, RCMP Insp. Adam MacIntosh told a news conference.
Four workers on the jobsite, including the crane operator,, were killed, while another man who was taken to hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries has since been released, he said.
The Mounties are collaborating with the BC Coroners Service, B.C.sa国际传媒檚 worker safety agency, WorkSafeBC, the local fire department and engineers to determine whatsa国际传媒檚 required to safely secure portions of the crane to recover the mansa国际传媒檚 body, he said.
Until then, a local emergency order prevents anyone from accessing the area.
The building next door housed a consulting business, MacIntosh said.
He would not speculate about the cause of the collapse but said workers were getting ready to take the crane down or were in the process of dismantling it.
sa国际传媒淲hy exactly that crane collapsed, thatsa国际传媒檚 a part of the investigation,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淥bviously, something catastrophic occurred.sa国际传媒�
The RCMP are investigating to ensure the collapse was not criminal and a WorkSafeBC investigation will also determine what occurred, he said.
READ MORE: Kelowna crane collapse kills 4, another presumed dead under rubble
The collapse knocked out power for most of Kelownasa国际传媒檚 downtown core and prompted an evacuation order for surrounding homes and businesses. Some people remained displaced from a seniors residence on Tuesday, MacIntosh said.
The head of Mission Group, the development company building the residential tower, said Monday that he didnsa国际传媒檛 know what caused the crane to fall.
Jonathan Friesen said the companysa国际传媒檚 staff and subtrades were in a state of shock and grief counselling had been offered to anyone who needed it.
The website for Stemmer Construction, based in Salmon Arm, B.C., lists the tower in Kelowna as one of its current projects.
A call to Stemmersa国际传媒檚 office about whether any of its employees were affected by the collapse went unanswered on Tuesday afternoon.
Premier John Horgan called the collapse tragic, saying it was sa国际传媒渁n event that, quite honestly, you donsa国际传媒檛 expect to happen on a sunny July day here in British Columbia.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淵et, it can happen,sa国际传媒� he told a news conference. sa国际传媒淲e need to redouble our efforts on workplace safety and any of the findings that WorkSafe brings forward or the coroner brings forward, wesa国际传媒檒l certainly be implementing right across the province.sa国际传媒�
A Twitter post Tuesday by Prime Minister Justice Trudeau read: sa国际传媒淢y heart is in Kelowna today, with the families, friends, and colleagues of the workers who lost their lives.sa国际传媒�
A candlelight vigil has been planned for Friday at 9 p.m. near the site of the crane collapse. The aim is to gather as close to the site as possible, organizers say, but the exact location had yet to be determined.
sa国际传媒� By Brenna Owen in Vancouver; with files from Alistair Waters in Kelowna, B.C.
The Canadian Press
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