Building collapses in Ark., killing young girl

MORRILTON, AR

Dozens of firefighters sifted through the wreckage left from the two-story brick building hours after rescuers pulled Alissa Jones' body from the rubble and accounted for everyone else trapped inside, authorities said.

Investigators were trying to determine whether ongoing construction at one of the ground-level stores, which sold wedding gowns, was to blame for the collapse about 50 miles northwest of Little Rock. Authorities had not declared an official cause by Monday evening.

"We don't know how or why they collapsed," said Brandon Baker, the director of emergency management in Conway County. "We just know it was fast."

Of the 10 people inside the building, Baker said one died and four others were injured. Conway County coroner Richard Neal identified the girl as Alissa Jones and said one of her relatives was among the injured.

But a local hospital confirmed six people were treated. Christy Hockaday, chief executive of St. Vincent Morrilton, said five of the six were released and the remaining person was in good condition.

Brian Matthews, who owns an auto detailing shop nearby, said he heard a loud crash about noon.

"When I looked up, there was nothing but smoke," he said.

Matthews rushed to the rubble, where he and a few other men spotted a woman pinned under a beam screaming, "My baby is still inside." They pulled bricks and wood off her, exposing her injured legs as she continued to cry out.

Meanwhile, some of the rescuers started searching for the missing child. But Alissa's was lifeless by the time they found her under some bricks and part of a wall, Matthews said.

Rescue teams suspended their search through the debris late Monday, and planned to resume their efforts on Tuesday, Morrilton police said. Although everyone in the building had been accounted for earlier, crews wanted to make sure no one was injured outside the building's perimeter, authorities said. Some workers inserted tiny cameras into crevices between crumbled bricks to make sure no one else was trapped.

Some people in the building had noticed creaking and groaning noises over the past few days, Mayor Stewart Nelson said.

The collapsed building closed off a stretch of downtown Morrilton, a working-class city of 6,700. Broken bricks and twisted metal slumped over the street corner where the building once stood. A broken clothes rack showed off a few colorful dresses, mostly untouched by the barrage of debris.

Down the street, Kylie Cole, 32, thought a train from the nearby depot collided with a car when she heard the building collapse. By the time she made it near the stores, all she could see was dust.

"We heard people screaming and crying," she said.