Two people have died and four others remain in hospital following a partial building collapse at a construction site in southwest London on Friday.
Police confirm that a sixth person was assessed at the scene with minor injuries and not transported to a hospital.
Of the five transported to hospital, the City of London said two are in fair condition, one is in serious condition, one is in critical condition and one died.
Emergency crews remained on the scene of a partial building collapse on Teeple Terrace, south of Wonderland Road South and Springbank Drive, in an effort to help someone who was trapped.
However, in an update released Friday evening, officials confirmed the person trapped was found dead and crews haven’t been able to remove them.
“Efforts to recover the individual have been delayed because the structure that is left following the partial collapse is not currently stable,” a City of London news release said.
“First responders have determined that to ensure the safety of everyone working on site, recovery efforts could take some time.”
The Heavy Urban Search and Rescue team from Toronto and the Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal were both called in for potential assistance.
Matthew Pegg, the City of Toronto’s general manager of emergency management, said in a post on Twitter Friday evening that the team was returning from London.
London Mayor Ed Holder said he heard of the accident within minutes of it happening.
“Our hearts go out to the families of who was injured and impacted by this in particular the individual who lost their life,” he said.
The partial collapse occurred at 555 Teeple Ter., the site of Nest on Wonderland, which is currently under construction.
Its website described the building as “brand new premium apartments” under construction in southwest London, set to open in spring or summer 2021.
The City said a four-storey wall of the building collapsed just before 12 p.m. on Friday and trapping those working at the site.
“This is an active site, with the potential for additional impacts as emergency responders work to rescue any remaining individuals and secure the site,” the municipality said in a statement.
The Ontario Ministry of Labour had two investigators and an engineer at the site, which it said was managed by Brock Developments. An investigation into the cause of the collapse is underway.
Brock Developments did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
— With files from Global News’ Andrew Graham and The Canadian Press