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(11/1/03 7:34 am)
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Garage Collapse at Casino
Deadly collapse at casino
Friday, October 31, 2003
By TOM DAVIS and YUNG KIM
STAFF WRITERS
AP
Inspectors surveying damage to a parking garage being built at the Tropicana Casino and Resort.
ATLANTIC CITY - A parking garage under construction at the Tropicana Casino and Resort collapsed Thursday, killing three construction workers, injuring about 21, and leaving one missing, officials said.
One man was pulled out of the rubble alive but later died at a hospital. The bodies of two other workers were found in the rubble, said Michael Shurman, deputy director of emergency management for Atlantic County.
At least 21 people were taken to area hospitals. Of those, 10 were admitted - some in critical condition - while others were treated for scrapes and bruises and released, officials said.
Search-and-rescue squads found the two bodies between the third and fourth floors, Shurman said, before further efforts were suspended.
The top five stories of the 10-level parking garage collapsed on one side, leaving slabs of concrete and steel hanging precariously.
"Its very unsafe," Shurman said. "We are not going to have the search-and-rescue crews in there until they shore up the building."
The project was part of the Tropicana's $245 million expansion to create a three-story retail, dining, and entertainment district called The Quarter.
The general contractor for the parking garage and The Quarter is the Keating Building Corp. of Philadelphia.
Keating, which has built hotels and other large-scale structures in the Philadelphia area, is no stranger to Atlantic City or to accidents.
According to published reports, a laborer working at the Tropworld Casino and Entertainment Resort plunged 10 stories to his death in 1995. Keating was the general contractor on the project.
Last year, three workers were standing on a prefabricated concrete panel at the Tropicana construction site when the structure gave way.
One worker suffered a pelvic injury, another a head injury.
A third worker refused treatment. Keating was the project contractor then, too.
John Miller, a spokesman for the contractor, read a prepared statement Thursday and said: "This is a difficult time."
"Obviously, our first concern is the well-being of the people who are injured or missing," he said.
"We are working with the authorities on site to determine the best course of action. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this."
When asked about the previous incidents, Miller declined to comment.
Governor McGreevey flew by helicopter to inspect the site at the corner of Brighton and Atlantic avenues, adjacent to the Tropicana.
"Obviously, we pray they survive," McGreevey said of the injured and missing. "The search-and-rescue squad will try to fortify the extending wall to assess the damage."
Norman Williams of Cumberland County said he was pouring fresh concrete on top of the parking deck at about 10:40 a.m. when he heard a loud "boom."
"I could feel the rumble underneath my feet," he said.
"I got out of the area, and I ran down the steps. I hollered for my buddy, and he was already going down the side of the building."
Williams said he then lost track of his friend.
"I'm all right right now, but I wasn't before," Williams said. "There were a lot of tears. These are my friends. We were moving along smoothly. It was so close [to completion]."
Robert Levy, emergency management coordinator for Atlantic City, said the building was in a dangerous condition.
"It could go at any time," he said. "It is not a safe structure right now."
Dave Barsky, who lives in a condominium complex next door to the parking garage, said he looked out his window and saw five levels of the structure crumble.
"When I heard it, I thought something crashed into something - like a car, a truck, or a plane," he said.
Luther Stukes of Atlantic City works the night shift on the project, and said the garage had been about 85 percent complete and "moving along very smoothly."
"We haven't rushed the job," he said. "I feel really lucky, but I feel really bad. You come on this job, anything can happen. You can step in a hole and hurt yourself. That's a chance we take."
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