3-story parking garage partially collapses in NJ

Associated Press ^ | 07-6-2010 | DAVID PORTER

[RS_Rider]

HACKENSACK, N.J. – A glass canopy fell off of a high-rise condominium building and onto a parking garage two stories below on Friday, partly flattening the structure and trapping at least one person, authorities said.

Rescuers can see the victim but can't get to the person because they are concerned about the possibility of another collapse at the three-story garage, Hackensack fire Lt. Stephen Lindner said. They could not determine the victim's condition.

Authorities are checking out reports that two to three more people might also be trapped, Lindner said.

The garage pancaked when the canopy fell on it, damaging vehicles. Television footage showed the top level of the garage littered with dirt, debris and glass, and wide cracks in the pavement.

It's unclear why the canopy fell from the 22-year-old building, which is adjacent to the garage. Several residents said workers had uprooted a tree between the street and the building within the past few months, and that a leak in the basement was being fixed.

Resident Chris Baldo told local television station News 12 that he was in his first-floor unit when he heard "rumbling that sounded like an earthquake or a plane, like something hit the building."

Irene Casapulla, who lives on the second floor, said she heard "a bunch of thumping, and all of a sudden it sounded like an earthquake."

[upchuck]

The garage pancaked when the canopy fell on it, damaging vehicles.

Now, now, now. Be careful how this is characterized. We all know, after 9/11, that the only way a building can pancake is if it is internally dynamited by a demolition company.

[editor-surveyor]

Note to self: Stay out of parking garages!
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