Prince George’s County rescue crews were searching Friday for a man missing after a warehouse roof collapsed in Landover.
The warehouse at 1501 Cabin Branch Drive collapsed around 10 p.m. Thursday, after a forklift knocked over a storage rack, which hit other storage racks and support beams, employees told fire officials.
Twenty-four workers escaped the collapse and no injuries were reported Thursday night. But emergency crews soon realized one worker was unaccounted for and began a search-and-rescue operation.
The search lasted through the night, with structural engineers brought in to advise rescue workers on how to proceed.
Thirty firefighters and medics and almost as many contractors and engineers were on the scene as of 3 p.m. Friday, said Mark Brady, Prince George’s fire department spokesman.
The man is believed to be buried under 40 to 50 feet of debris. Rescue workers planned to begin removing the debris shortly after 3 p.m. on Friday — a process that could take as much or more than five hours, fire officials said.
The plan is for two cranes to remove larger debris while contractors remove debris in the area where the man is thought to be located, creating a path for a search and rescue K-9 unit.
By Friday afternoon, one person was being treated for heat exhaustion and a public safety worker had broken his wrist, Mr. Brady said.
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