A man, trapped after the top two floors of an office building under refurbishment collapsed in central London, has been freed and taken to hospital, the emergency services said today.
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| Fire fighters sift through the rubble of a partially collapses building in central London today. |
Rescuers released the man trapped in the rubble of the building, close to the Metropolitan Police headquarters, in the early hours after a crane and specialist equipment was brought in.
Mark Bloomfield, of London Fire Brigade, said the operation had been difficult and dangerous."The latest state-of-the-art rescue equipment has been used to make safe areas for teams to work in and contact was made with the male casualty at an early stage," he said.
"A crane was brought in to assist with access to the man and I am pleased to say that he has now been released." The man is in hospital where his condition is described as stable.
Everyone else who had been in the five-storey building when it collapsed yesterday afternoon was uninjured and accounted for. The ambulance service said they had treated one person with minor injuries. The cause of the collapse was unknown, but police Commander Steve Allen rejected speculation that there might have been an explosion.
"There is no information available at this time to suggest anything other than structural failure in the building. There is no evidence that the damage has been caused by an explosion," he said