HOUSTON — Experts are working to determine if it's safe to try to recover the bodies of three workers believed to have been killed in a high-rise building collapse in west Houston Monday.
Houston Fire Department Assistant Chief Ruy Lozano said Tuesday morning they hope to use a crane on the roof to remove concrete planks from inside so they can reach the bodies on the ground.
He said it will be a very tedious process, and they won't rush. They want to make sure it is safe to extract the victims without risking the lives of rescuers and engineers.
Members of the technical rescue team are on location assessing the collapse and Lozano said the biggest threat right now is a secondary collapse happening in the stairwell.
The recovery process probably won't start until late Tuesday night or possibly Wednesday.
Crews set up a screen to protect the area they will work on to remove debris and to get equipment, surveyors and engineers on the roof.
According to HFD, the 15-story building was under construction near I-10 and Beltway 8, west of City Centre, when the interior stairwell collapsed around 1:30 p.m. Monday.
A fourth worker was rescued Monday and taken to a nearby hospital, HFD said. He is reportedly in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
The contractor issued the following statement Monday evening:
"Harvey Builders is working with the Houston Fire Department, our subcontractor East Texas Precast, and Hines, the project’s development manager, to investigate a fatal accident involving the collapse of a stairway."
The high-rise in the 990 block of Town and Country Boulevard is slated to be Marathon Oil's new headquarters in 2021.
"We extend our deepest sympathies to the families of those contractors who were affected and thank the first responders. We have offered our assistance to the building contractors as they respond to this accident," Marathon Oil said in a statement.