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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Man killed as building collapses | Man killed as building collapses |
| (9 minutes later) | |
| A man has died as a block of flats collapsed in the Black Country. | A man has died as a block of flats collapsed in the Black Country. |
| The incident, above an estate agents, happened in High Street, West Bromwich, shortly after midnight. | The incident, above an estate agents, happened in High Street, West Bromwich, shortly after midnight. |
| Police said it would take hours to retrieve the body of the man, believed to be in his 30s, as the building was in danger of further collapse. | Police said it would take hours to retrieve the body of the man, believed to be in his 30s, as the building was in danger of further collapse. |
| Two men were rescued and were taken to hospital with minor injuries. Two others made their own way out of the three-storey building. | Two men were rescued and were taken to hospital with minor injuries. Two others made their own way out of the three-storey building. |
| West Midlands Police said the weight of the collapsed roof caused the floors below to give way. | West Midlands Police said the weight of the collapsed roof caused the floors below to give way. |
| Det Ch Insp Danny Long said officers believed they knew who the man was and had contacted his family. | |
| He said paramedics declared the trapped man dead several hours after the building collapsed. The roof has collapsed inwards, which has caused the floors below to pancake downwards towards the ground floor Fire service spokesman | |
| Det Ch Insp Long added it was too early to say if the man had died as the building collapsed or after being trapped in the rubble. | |
| He said: "At the moment we can't tell what time this person died or where he was in the building when the roof collapsed. | |
| "Obviously the roof went through not just the first floor but through to the ground floor. | |
| "We don't know how far he fell. We can't say at this stage." | |
| Rescue crews with sniffer dogs had been searching through the night to try and find the man, who was believed to have been trapped under the rubble. | |
| 'Precariously balanced' | |
| A fire service spokesman described the incident as a "catastrophic failure" of the roof, adding: "The roof has collapsed inwards, which has caused the floors below to pancake downwards towards the ground floor." | A fire service spokesman described the incident as a "catastrophic failure" of the roof, adding: "The roof has collapsed inwards, which has caused the floors below to pancake downwards towards the ground floor." |
| Tony Prosser, area commander for West Midlands Fire Service, said firefighters were being hampered by the precarious state of the building. | Tony Prosser, area commander for West Midlands Fire Service, said firefighters were being hampered by the precarious state of the building. |
| He said: "The problem we have is that half of the roof of the building is still precariously balanced on top of the gable end wall." | He said: "The problem we have is that half of the roof of the building is still precariously balanced on top of the gable end wall." |
| The cause of the collapse is unknown and police said it was too early to say if there were suspicious circumstances. | The cause of the collapse is unknown and police said it was too early to say if there were suspicious circumstances. |
| The Carter's Green end of High Street is expected to be closed for much of Wednesday. | The Carter's Green end of High Street is expected to be closed for much of Wednesday. |