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() — Five people remain unaccounted for after the partial collapse of an apartment building in Davenport, Iowa — including two who may be in the pile of rubble at the site of the collapse, Mayor Mike Matson confirmed at a news conference.
Family members believe Ryan Hitchcock and Branden Colvin were in the building when it went down at 5 p.m. Sunday, the Quad-City Times reported.
Nelson said no one has heard from Hitchcock or Colvin.
Near the site on Tuesday morning, protestors carried signs reading, “Find Them First” and “Who Is in the Rubble?” Some used a megaphone to shout out the names of building residents.
These protests started after a woman was rescued on Monday night — hours after the city ordered demolition to begin on the building.
One of Colvin and Hitchcock’s friends, Broc Nelson, who also lived in the building, told that residents are now asking that the building not be torn down until the two are found, and pets are also recovered.
Several people have been rescued since Saturday. No fatalities have been reported.
In an update Tuesday morning, the city of Davenport said it is “continually evaluating” the timing of the demolition of the building at 324 Main St.
“Demolition is a multi-phase process that includes permitting and staging of equipment that will begin today,” Davenport said in a statement. “The timing of the physical demolition of the property is still being evaluated. The building remains structurally insecure and in imminent danger of collapse.”
Residents in the six-story structure told that on the night of the collapse, they heard a “big bang,” the power went off, and the hallway was filled with smoke and dust.
“My apartment was not one that collapsed, but the building shook,” Nelson recalled to ’s rienne Bankert on “Morning in America.”
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He remembered hearing a “loud rumble” around him.
“I looked out the window to see nothing but dust and knew immediately that this building was falling down,” Nelson said. “I ran out.”
Now, Nelson doesn’t have his wallet, or other belongings, and can’t even get back into the building.
“I am displaced, dispossessed,” he said.
The cause of the collapse is still unknown. What is known is that work was being done to the exterior of the building.
Reports of falling bricks were part of that work, and the building’s owner had a permit for the project, Rich Oswald, the city’s director of development and neighborhood services, said.
Authorities confirmed, though, that residents had a number of unmet maintenance complaints with the building’s management. According to the Quad-City Times, nearly 20 permits were filed in 2022.
Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for Scott County, activating the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program and the Disaster Case Management Program for the residents left homeless.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story is developing. Refresh for updates.
