Emergency personnel believe that an employee at a commercial warehouse whose roof collapsed is trapped under a 40- to 50-foot pile of debris, officials said.
The collapse occurred about 10 p.m. Thursday at a warehouse at 1501 Cabin Branch Drive in Landover. Employees told firefighters that a forklift accidentally struck a storage rack, which fell, leading to other racks and support beams being hit. The roof collapsed after support beams fell, and the walls buckled, according to the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department.
About 25 employees were inside the warehouse at the time of the collapse. When firefighters and medics got to the scene, they worked to evacuate employees and secure the gas, water and electric utilities. One man hasn’t been seen or heard from since the collapse, and his car remained at the warehouse’s parking lot, officials said, but everyone else is OK.
Firefighters trained in confined space and collapse rescues, and search and rescue K-9 teams worked overnight to search for the employee.
Starting about 3 p.m. Friday, two large cranes will remove debris and remaining roof structure elements. Contractors will then work to remove debris from the pile where the man is believed to be trapped, officials said. A K-9 will come in to help identify the area to search when there is a significant path cleared.
Officials said the debris-removal process could take more than 5 hours.
