Hydraulic lifting gear was brought to the scene of a collapsed three-storey building in London last night where police believed five people were trapped underneath rubble.
Five Turkish builders who were renovating two commercial properties on the ground floor of the building in Tottenham, north London, were unaccounted for after 30 police and rescue workers spent the day searching the rubble.
Heavy-lifting equipment and a digger were being moved into place last night to begin the task of pulling large pieces of concrete and debris from the front of the collapsed building. The emergency services also brought in listening equipment to try to locate the builders.
The incident happened at about 8.30 a.m. yesterday when at least two floors of the building collapsed, falling into the street. Four people living in flats above the properties, including a baby girl, were injured and they were treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.
The builders were knocking down a dividing wall between the ground-floor shops. One of the men, who had walked through to the back of the property when the building collapsed, escaped injury and raised the alarm.
A police officer leading the rescue operation, Assistant Divisional Officer Tony Agar, said the emergency services had heard some sounds from the rubble during the day.
"We are very concerned about the safety of the building. It is very dangerous, there are no supporting walls or doors," he said. "We are always hopeful that anyone trapped inside will still be alive, and we won't give up hope."