10 people hospitalized following house collapse
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - 10 people are on life support following a house collapse in Syracuse, New York on Tuesday afternoon.
The Syracuse Fire Chief says eight of the people are on advanced life support, and the other two are on basic life support. Officials are still trying to determine if other people are trapped.
The Fire Chief said the original 911 call was regarding a house explosion. Officials found multiple victims in the yard. One car was involved and trapped under the rubble. One person was rescued from within the vehicle.
Officials say there was a smell of gas in the area, but they do not know what caused the house collapse.
"Certainly been to several collapses in my career...Never with the amount of people that were trapped inside or hurt because of the collapse or of an explosion. So I never seen anything like this before. And not many people have this many people that are trapped in a structure so small."
Michael Monds, Syracuse Fire Chief
Based on information given by neighbors and victims, they began operating under the condition that people were trapped alive and inside.
After a full sweep of the house, officials concluded there were negative signs that people were trapped. However, additional resources such as cadaver dogs are being introduced to the scene to exhaust every option.
At 9:15am Eastern Wednesday, Syracuse Fire Department District Chief Matt Craner held a press briefing with Mayor Ben Walsh. The two released information about the victim's ages and conditions after the home collapse on Carbon Street.
The victims are as follows:
42 year old male: stable condition
33 year old female: stable condition
13 year old: stable condition
10 year old: stable condition
12 year old: stable condition
8 year old: stable condition
3 year old: critically stable condition
34 year old male: stable condition
29 year old female: stable condition
5 year old: stable condition
4 year old: triaged on-scene and not transported to hospital
2 year old: critically stable condition
9 month old: critically stable condition
The Syracuse Fire Department says it appears a family of seven lived in the home at the 200-block of Carbon Street, and a family of six was visiting when the incident happened. Currently, National Grid workers are on scene checking electrical and underground piping to make sure the structure is safe for investigators to continue their work to determine why the collapse occurred.
The Syracuse City School District also released the following statement regarding the incident:
"On Tuesday afternoon a serious incident that involved some of our SCSD students occurred. Several people, including a few of our students, were hospitalized after a house collapsed on Carbon Street. Additional information cannot be provided at this time, but we wanted to make you aware of the situation and let you know our thoughts and prayers are with everyone impacted. We will be conducting a district-wide effort to collect donations to support the students displaced. Details will be announced."
