HOUSTON – Members of the Houston Fire Department’s elite rescue team said Monday night it was not safe yet to remove the bodies of three construction workers who were killed when 13 floors of concrete staircases collapsed.
After the team rescued a construction worker from the collapse earlier in the day, team members stood by as engineers checked the stability of the perimeter of the collapsed stairwell.
A few team members will stand by overnight into Tuesday as construction workers cut holes in the roof of the 15-story future Houston headquarters for Marathon Oil, an HFD captain said.
The plan, the captain explained, is to use a crane to remove large portions of the collapsed stairwell through holes in the roof, starting Tuesday.
It is unclear when it will be safe to remove the three bodies from the rubble.