A Toronto theater
being demolished partly collapsed Monday onto a school next door, killing one man and
injuring 14 people.
Firefighters sift through rubble after a
wall from a downtown theatre collapsed onto an adjacent building in
Toronto on Monday. [CP]
Workers had been tearing down the historic Uptown Theater when it crumbled at
10:30 a.m. One of its walls fell on the roof of the Yorkville English Academy,
where classes were under way. The school teaches English as a second language.
"It just collapsed. The wall beside us fell in on top of our building," said
teacher John Harrington, who had been instructing about a dozen students at the
time in the three-story structure.
A man was pronounced dead at the scene and 14 other people were taken to
hospitals, including two children with crushed legs, said Bruce Farr, director
of Toronto Emergency Medical Services. Most of the injuries were not
life-threatening, he said.
Authorities called off the rescue effort at 6 p.m., saying that they did not
expect to find anyone else, alive or dead, in the rubble.
"We're finally satisfied that everyone in that school has been accounted
for," Police Chief Julian Fantino told reporters.
Toronto Fire Chief Bill Stewart allayed fears that any further collapses
would occur, in the theater or neighboring buildings.
Earlier, as workers combed the site in freezing weather, officials said they
thought at least one person had been trapped in the rubble. But sniffer dogs and
diggers uncovered no more victims.
Simone Serra, a student who arrived in Canada two weeks ago from Brazil,
clutched her daughter Stephanie, 11, who was wrapped in a blanket in the
freezing temperature after both escaped the collapse.
"I'm afraid because there are some people there that I know. I want news
about them," Serra said.
Firefighter Alan Wingfield arrived amidst gas fumes to help pull out a boy
with a broken leg. He had been pinned for 45 minutes by a collapsed roof truss
in a dark corner of the school.
"He wasn't that awake, but had a pretty relieved look on his face," Wingfield
said.
Five of the injured taken to hospitals were employees of the demolition firm,
officials said.
The mother of an injured student who was taken to a hospital said she was
contacted by cell phone from inside the collapsed school by her daughter.
"I told her to hide under a desk to protect her head and get something to tie
off the wound of a classmate," Helen Wanger said.
Authorities invoked a no fly zone over site, saying it was needed to aid
sensitive acoustical equipment used in the search.
Fantino said the site's bustling location near the tony midtown intersection
of Bloor and Yonge streets made it difficult to determine exactly how many
people may have been caught in the collapse.
Hundreds of people in surrounding buildings overlooking the site braved the
freezing temperatures to watch the rescue effort from their balconies.
The Uptown Theater, which opened in 1920 as a movie theater and a stage
venue, is considered a historic site and was the subject of an unsuccessful
campaign to stop its demolition. It was a former venue for the Toronto
International Film Festival.
In May, the company Famous Players sold the building for US$7.5 million to
Piagga Ltd., a developer with plans to build a 50-story apartment building on
the site.
Toronto city councilor Kyle Rae, who represents the ward where the theater is
located, told reporters he received a telephone call Sunday from a Piagga
employee expressing "concerns over safety problems." Rae did not elaborate.
The Uptown was one of three theaters that Famous Players decided to shut down
rather than follow government directives to make them wheelchair accessible.
Piagga did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
