One person is dead, and three are still missing after part of the Hard Rock hotel, which is under construction, in downtown New Orleans collapsed.
According to authorities, multiple injuries have been reported after the upper six floors of the structure collapsed Saturday morning around 9:14 a.m. Eighteen people have been transported to a local hospital but are reportedly in stable condition.
“This remains a very fluid and dangerous situation and every few minutes something is falling,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said, warning people to stay away.
“It’s still a very dangerous situation,” the New Orleans Fire Department Chief Tim McConnell added. “The crane is still in place but it is unsupported and very dangerous. We are in the process of evacuating the buildings in the perimeter.”
About 45 construction workers were working on the building at the time of the incident. Around an hour after the collapse, they were still being accounted for.
The incident, the cause of which was not immediately known, was caught on video.
WATCH: Incredible video captures the moment the construction site for the Hard Rock Hotel in downtown New Orleans collapsed. (Video: Michael Dalle) pic.twitter.com/lmt4RGThNw
— 10News WTSP (@10NewsWTSP) October 12, 2019
“It sounded like a — I don’t know how to describe it — like a building coming down,” said witness Matt Worges. “It looked like the concrete just slid from the top all the way down to the street. The concrete just started to slide down the side.”
Plans for the development were revealed last year and call for 350 hotel rooms and condominiums.
