TORONTO – As two bodies are pulled from the rubble beneath the Algo Centre Mall parking lot in Elliot Lake, officials will soon begin investigating what caused the deadly roof collapse.
Rene Fabris, the lawyer for Eastwood Mall Inc., spoke to Global News on Wednesday about the ongoing search efforts and expressed hope for finding survivors.
“The company is totally distraught with what happened,” Fabris said. “They’re glued to current events.”
Since 2008, Robert Nazarian, the owner of Eastwood Mall Inc., has been dealing with extensive roof repairs, and despite what a contractor who was hired in 2008 says, he says he has completed all the necessary roof repairs.
“All work that needed to be done had been done,” Fabris said. “We spent a considerable amount of money on that roof.”
“The fire department and building department in Elliot Lake have been closely involved with the building over the last few years,” Fabris said.
Many residents of the small town west of Sudbury have been complaining openly about the state of the mall.
“I’ve lived here 17 years. It’s leaked since there was water damage. There had to be structural damage. Now it shows. The roof has caved in. They should have taken that roof off,” said Jean-Marc Hayward who was inside the mall when it collapsed.
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“Everybody in Elliot Lake knew it leaked… I mean, maybe we should have rallied together before this to stop it so there is a lot of guilt feelings about that. This should never have happened.”
The roof of the Elliot Lake mall collapsed on Saturday afternoon, trapping at least two people inside.
“I thought they had some good luck, or some good news,” Sylvia Kelly, an Elliot Lake resident, told Global News after learning about a body being pulled from the ruins.
Since Saturday the Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR) team has been working to recover people caught beneath the concrete rubble.
Two bodies were pulled from the rubble on Wednesday.
As part of the search and rescue effort, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) will eventually be trying to piece together clues from the twisted metal and rubble and find out exactly what caused the roof to collapse.
“Without a doubt there’s going to be a full investigation,” said OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis.
The OPP stressed that it was too early to speak of any criminal charges that could be laid as a result of the roof collapse.
According to Marcy Segal, a legal expert, there needs to be evidence that those responsible for the building “put people’s lives at risk” before any charges could be laid.
“There has to be grounds for the officer to lay the charges.” Segal said. “There needs to be evidence of, for instance, willfully ignoring the dangerous problems that were arising in the building and choosing to ignore them and not fix them, and putting people’s lives at risk.”
Segal says it is likely there will be “a number of civil lawsuits.” If any lawsuits are brought forward, Segal believes the court battles could last for years.
“There’s no reason why people’s lives should be put at risk. So if there are going to be charges or lawsuits, we’re talking about years here before its completion,” Segal said. “I think they’ve got a long road ahead of them, a very expensive road.”
With files from The Canadian Press
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