As reported on ABC News, crews were feverishly working on Sunday to stabilize the Hard Rock Hotel in downtown New Orleans a day after the building partially collapsed, killing two construction workers, leaving a third trapped in the rubble and injuring 30 others, officials said.
One body has been recovered from the scene, according to New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell.
New Orleans Fire Chief Tim McConnell said at a news conference near the disaster site on Sunday that search-and-rescue crews were poised to reenter the building.
“Search and rescue continues to be our top priority at this time,” McConnell said.
He said the search of the building that had been under construction was halted overnight after conditions were deemed too dangerous to allow first responders to enter.
McConnell said a large crane was also damaged in the collapse and remained in a precarious position. He said a massive crane weighing 110 tons was trucked into the city overnight from Baton Rouge and will be used to help stabilize the building once it’s assembled.
Hazardous conditions, according to the chief, prevented search teams from recovering the bodies of the two construction workers killed when the upper floors of the building suddenly gave way and pancaked on one another. He said the identities of the dead construction workers and the one who remains missing have yet to be confirmed.