Woman reportedly rescued from collapsed Iowa building; demolition timeline unclear

DAVENPORT, Iowa — Questions were swirling Tuesday about the timeline for the demolition of an apartment building in the eastern Iowa city of Davenport after city officials said residents remain “unaccounted for” and reports suggested a woman was rescued from the structure more than a day after it partially collapsed.

“Currently, there are unaccounted for individuals that were residents of the property,” city spokeswoman Sarah Ott said in a news release late Monday. “(The Davenport Police Department) is continuing to attempt communication with individuals that are unaccounted for, including being in contact with families of those individuals.”

The news comes after city officials initially announced plans to demolish the building Tuesday, saying the structure was in imminent danger of collapse.

What happened in Davenport, Iowa?

A downtown apartment building partially collapsed around 5 p.m. Sunday, city spokeswoman Sarah Ott said. First responders helped more than a dozen people evacute the site, Ott said. There were rescues out of multiple floors and locations in the building, which has 84 residential and commercial units, city officials said.

More than 150 people across numerous agencies responded to the scene, Ott said. Rescue teams worked through Sunday night into Monday morning using thermal imagining, drones and search dogs to attempt to locate victims, Ott said.

That’s when rescue teams “located and extricated” a victim, Ott said. “Due to the nature of her injuries and entrapment, extraction took an extended period of time,” Ott said.

What did Davenport officials say?

Early Monday, Fire Chief Mike Carlsten said there were “no confirmed deaths” and no other people known to be trapped in the building. Ott said the Davenport Fire Department transitioned from rescue operations about 9:45 a.m. Monday, with plans to begin demolition of the remainder of the building on Tuesday.

Ott said that because of the building’s shaky condition, residents wouldn’t be allowed back inside to retrieve their belongings.

Woman rescued from Davenport building late Monday, reports say

The Quad City Times reported a woman whose relatives had been gathered outside the building saying she was missing had been rescued after she called a relative on her cell phone, and that others who believe loved ones are still trapped there were pushed back by police after they tried to get closer to the cordoned-off building.

NBC News said it independently confirmed the report with family and local authorities.

Onlookers watching from beyond temporary fencing and caution tape Monday named several residents of the building they said were unaccounted for. As morning drew on to afternoon, many in the crowd voiced frustration and suspicion about the lack of updates about who had been found.

“I don’t want to come off in a negative way, but things like this, when they transpire and they’re not communicating, this is not winning over the people within the community,” said Antoine Smith Sr., who was awaiting word of an aunt and a close friend who both lived in the building.

‘An outpouring of support from the community’

There has been “an outpouring of support from the community,” Mayor Mike Matson said.

People wishing to make donations may do so through the Salvation Army or the Quad Cities Community Foundation, which has opened the Quad Cities Disaster Recovery Fund to assist displaced residents of the building, Ott said. Donations to the fund may be made online.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday issued a disaster proclamation for Scott County her office said will allow residents affected by the building collapse to receive aid from the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program and the Disaster Case Management Program.

Cause of collapse undetermined, but residents had complained

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. Rich Oswald, city of Davenport director of development and neighborhood services, said at the Sunday news conference that work was being done at the time of the collapse on the red brick exterior of the building.

Reports of bricks falling from the building earlier this week were part of that work, and the building’s owner had a permit for the project, Oswald said. Oswald said an investigation will begin once the building is cleared.

According to the county assessor’s office, the last permit for the building was filed on March 2 and had “misc” listed in the description. In 2022, nearly 20 permits were filed, mainly for plumbing or electrical issues.