6 Jun 2013

One dead, 13 hurt in US building collapse

9:31 am on 6 June 2013

A four-storey apartment building has collapsed onto a smaller structure in the US city of Philadelphia, killing one person and injuring 13 others, officials say.

The smaller of the buildings was a two-storey structure housing a Salvation Army charity shop.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known, but authorities said it appeared to have been an industrial accident, AFP reports.

A Philadelphia Police Department spokesman said a woman died and 13 people had been recovered and transferred to hospitals.

No one was trapped under the rubble and fire chief Lloyd Ayers said those taken to hospital had suffered minor injuries.

Mr Ayers said workers would continue clearing the debris in what he predicted would be a "12 to 24-hour operation".

Mayor Michael Nutter said officials were unsure how many people were in the Salvation Army store during the accident. The other building, which only had its walls still standing, was being demolished.